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University  of  California  •  Berkeley 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 


PRESENTED  BY 

PROF.  CHARLES  A.  KOFOID  AND 
MRS.  PRUDENCE  W.  KOFOID 


M369473 


-, 


< 


T    R    E    A  /T    r   S    E 

ON    THS    ; 

P  L  A  G  U  E 

A  KB 

YELLOW    FEVER. 

With  an  APPENDIX,  containing 

HISTORIES    OF    THE    PLAGUE    AT    ATHENS    IN    THE    TIME   Off 

THE     PELOPOITNES1  AN     WAR;      AT     CONSTANTINOPLE 

IN  THE  TIME   OF  JUSTINIANJ    AT  LONDON   IN 

1665;    AT  MARSEILLES   IN   IJlQj    &C. 


BY  JAMES  TYTLER, 

Compiler  of  the  Medical  Part  of  the  Encyclopaedia  Britannica. 


Let  every  one,  Phyfician  or  nott  freely  declare  his  own  fentiments  about  if  j 
let  him  affign  any  credible  account  of  its  rife,  or  the  cauies  ftrong  enoughj 
in  his  opiniun,  to  introduce  io  terrible  a  fccne. 

THUC  v  D:  at  5, 

»Twas  all  the  bufinefs  then 
To  tend  the  Tick,  and  in  their  turns  to  die. 
In  heaps  they  fell. 


Publijlied  according  to  A  El  of  Congrefs. 


'. 


SALEM: 

PRfNTED    EY    JOSHUA    CUSHfNC,    FttA 


B  ,    M  A  C  A  N  U  I.  T  V  , 


1700 


, 


CONTENTS. 


PART    FIRST. 

Of  the  Afiatic  or  True  Plague. 

SECTION    I.  Page 

Of  the  Plague  in  general. — Inquiry  into  the  Antiquity 
of  the  Diftemper. — Of  the  Plagues  mentioned  in  the 
Old  Teftament. — Hiftory  of  feveral  remarkable 
Plagues  which,  at  various  times  ^  have  deflated  the 
world.  I 

SECTION    II. 

Of  the  Countries  w€re  the  Plagueisfuppofedto  originate. 
—  The  Influence  of  Climate  in  producing  Difeajes — 
An d  of  the  Moral  Conduct  of  the  Human  Race  in 
producing  and  influencing  the  fame.  2 1 

SECTION    III. 

Of  Difeafe  in  general. — The  nature  of  the  Plague  as  a 
Difeafe  considered. — Of  Contagion. — Whether  the 
Plague  is  really  Contagious  or  not. — Medical  Hif- 
tory  of  the  Diftemper. — Inquiry  into  its  Immediate 
CaitfeS)  and  ^vhether  an  approaching  Plague  is  indi- 
cated by  any  vifible  Signs.  74 

SECTION    IV. 

Of  the  bejl  Methods  of  Preventing  the  Plague.  302 

SECTION    V. 

Of  the  Cure  of  the  Plague.  347 


PART   SECOND. 

Of  the  Yellow  Fever. 

SECTION     I. 

Hijiory  of  the  Yellow  Fever.  371 

SECTION    II. 

Symptoms  of  the  Yellow  Fever,  as  described  by  various 
authors. — Comparifon  between  them  and  thofe  of 'the 
Plague t  with  an  inquiry  into  the  Caufes* — Hiftory  of 

the 


CONTENTS. 

Page 

the  Diftemper  as  it  has  appeared  in  various  parts  of 
the  United  States  fmce  the  year  1793. — A  difatfflon 
of  the  quejtion,  Whether  the  Yellow  Fever  is  Con- 
tagious or  not.  382 

SECTION    III. 

Methods  of  Prevention  and  Cure.  507 

SECTION    IV. 

Remarkable  Cafes.  534 


APPENDIX. 

N°     1. 

Account  of  the  Plague  at  At  hens ,  in  the  time  of  the  Pelo- 
ponnejian  War  ': — From  THUCYDIDES.*— SMITH V 
Tranjlation. 

N°    II. 

Account  of  the  Great  Plague  in  the  time  of  JUSTI- 
NIAN : — By  PROCOPIUS.  547 
N°    III. 

Account  of  the  Plague  at  London  in  1665  : — Prom  Dr. 
HODGES  and  others.  548 

N°    IV. 

Account  of  the  Plague  at  Marjeil/es  in  1 720  : — From 
the  Periodical  Publications  of  the  time.  554 

N°    V. 

Account  of  the  Plague  in  Syria,  Cyprus  &c. — From  Dr. 
PATRICK  RUSSEL'J  Treattfe.  ibid, 

N°     VI. 

Remarkable  cafe  of  a  Remitting  Fever  at  Bajforah  in 
1780. 

N°     VII. 

Set  of  Queries  f unified  by  Doftors  AIKIN  and  JEBB  ; 
and  by  Mr.  HOWARD  put  to  J ever  at  foreign  Phy- 
JicianS)  during  his  tour  ;  with  their  Opinions  con- 
cerning the  Plague.  565 


A  TREATISE 


TREATISE 


ON    THE 


Plague   and  Yellow   Fever. 


PART     FIRST. 

'Of  the  Afiatic  or  True  Plague, 


SECTION   I. 

Of  ike  Plague  in  general. — Inquiry  into  the  Antiquity 
cf  the  Difternper. — Of  the  Plagues  mentioned  in  the  Old 
Teftame'nt. — Hi  ft  or y  of  fever  al  remarkable  Plagues  'which , 
at  various  times,  have  deflated  the  world. 

AMONG  the  many  difeafes  which  afflid  the  hu- 
man race,  we  find  ONE,  upon  record,  fo  irre- 
fiftiblc  in  its  progrefs,  fo  fatal  in  its  attacks,  and  fo 
entirely  beyond  the  powers  of  medicine  ;  that,  like  the 
ferpent  Python^  the  Leviathan,  or  the  Mammoth,  among 
animals,  it  has  'generally  been  diflinguifhed  by  names 
cxpreilive  of  its  deftroying  nature  ;  not,  like  other  dif- 
eafes, by  any  particular  appellation  derived  from  its 
fymptoms.  In  the  Hebrew  language  this  diftemper  is 
^xpreffed  by  the  word  which  fignifies  perdition  •>*  in 

Greek 

*  Thus  t)r.  Hodges;  butCaimet  informs  us,  that  the  Hebrews  call  by  the 
name  of  plagues  all  difeafes  fent  by  way  of  punifhment  o»  corre&i,an  from 
God  i  as  the  peftilt nee,  tnfe^kioni  the  leproiy*  jTutiden  dfiJHhst  famines,  ttflft* 

B 


5,  A    TREATISE    ON 

Greek  it  is  called  loimos,  from  /no,  to  deftroy  ;  in  Latin, 
peftisy  from  peffundo,  to  overthrow ;  and  in  Englifh,  the 
plague,  from  the  Latin  plaga^  a  flrokc  with  a  whip  -9 
alluding  to  the  common  opinion,  that  it  is  a  fcourge 
from  heaven,  taking  vengeance  on  mankind  for  their 
fins. 

Other  diftempers,  called  by  the  general  name  of 
Epidemics,  have  at  different  times  infefted  whole  cities, 
and  even  overfpread  exteniive  regions  ;  but  thefe, 
though  fometimes  very  fatal,  have  always  been  found 
ib  much  inferior  to  the  (Jiftemper  of  which  we  treat, 
that,  on  a  comparifon,  we  may  juftly  fay,  though  epi- 
demics have  ilain  their  tkoufands,  the  true  plague  has 
ilain  its  ten  thoufands.  In  fpeaking  of  the  deftruclive 
ravages  of  epidemics,  we  may  count  the  dead  by  tens, 
by  hundreds,  or  by  thoufands  ;  but  in  the  true  plague, 
always  by  thoufands,  by  myriads,*  or  by  millions. 
Procopius,  when  fpeaking  of  a  plague  which  defolated 
the  world  in  his  time,  compares  the  number  of  the  dead 
to  the  fand  of  the  fea;  and  Mr.  Gibbon,  who  at- 
tempts to  fpecify,  thinks  they  might  amount  to  an  hun- 
dred millions;^  and  I  cannot  help  being  of  opinion, 
that  the  deftruction  generally  bccafloned  by  violent 
plagues,  amounts  to  about  one  half  of  the  population  ; 

the 

pefts  :  in  a  wordt  all  calamities,  whether  public  or  private.     Calmest  Di&, 
Vol.  \\    f'ol.  412-    Plaga. 

Parkhurft  derives  the  Greek  term  loimos,  either  from  !u»,  as  above,  or  frora 
another  deck  werd  fignifying  to  faint;  the  lame  trom  which  the  Englifh 
•word  ed  if  ft  has  its  origin  j  or  it  may  be  from  the  Hebrew  lebem,  toccniume. 

A  iric-ud  obierves»  that  *f  we  no  where  find  the  word  perdition  in  our  ver- 
•fion  of  the  Old  Teftament.  We  have,  however,  the  word  dejl>uEl'i<,n,  which 
is  of  a  iimilar  import;  as,  for  inftance,  in  Prov.  xv.  i  r.  where  the  Hebrew 
is  abdun.  In  Rev.  xvii.  8  &  i  i,  we  find  the  Englilh  word  perdition  ;  but  as 
we  have  no  Hebrew  verfion  of  the  New  Teftament,  we  may  advert  to  the 
ancient  Syriac  veriion.  The  Syriac  being  a  filler  dialeft  of  the  Hebrew,  dif- 
fers, radically,  but  little  from  it.  The  Syriac  of  the  two  places  referred  to 
above  is  ab-dna  ;  hence  the  word  akaddonj  vvhofe  root  is  abd>  and  is  the  fame 
with  that  of  the  Hebrew  word  above. 

«•  As  to  the  word  plague,  we  often  find  it  in-  the  Old  Teftament,  but  per- 
haps never  in  that  Ipecific  fenfe  in  which  the  moderns  ule  it.  The  original 
word,  rendered  plague,  is  pretty  generally  #£/>,  or  its  derivations  ;  as  Exod, 
xii.  13.  ii.  Sam.  xxiv.  21,  &c."  On  this  lafi  occafion,  hawever,  as  the  word 
frftilenct  had  been  ufed  before,  in  the  fame  chapter,  we  can  fcarce  doubt 
its  having-  been  really  feme  kind  of  difeafe  :  and  we  know  that  modesa 
plagues  will  fometimes  deitroy  as  quickly  as  this  is  faid  to  have  done, 

*  A  myriad  is  generally  fuppofcd  to  contain  ten  thoufaad. 
•fr  Gibbon's  Hiftcryi  vol.  iv. 


THE    PLAGUE.  3 

the  reafons  for  which  opinion  will  be  given  in  the 
courfe  of  this  work.  In  all  violent  plagues,  we  hear  of 
the  dead  being  left  unburied  ;  of  their  being  call  into 
pits,  8cc.  But  if  we  wi(h  to  make  any  grofs  compari- 
fon  between  the  deftruclive  power  of  the  true  plague, 
and  that  of  any  other  violent  epidemic,  we  cannot, 
perhaps,  have  a  better  inftance  than  that  which  took 
place  at  BaiTorah  (a  city  on  the  confines  of  Perfia)  in 
the  years  1773  and  1780.*  In  the  former  of  thefe 
years  that  city  was  vifited  by  the  true  plague ;  and  in 
the  latter,  by  an  epidemic  remittent  fever.  The  fever 
was  moft  violent  in  its  kind,  and  deftroyed  twenty-five 
thoufand  in  the  city  and  neighbourhood  ;  but  the  true 
plague,  no  fewer  than  two  hundred  and  feventy-five 
thoufand  in  the  fame  place.  Suppofing  the  two  com- 
putations therefore  to  be  equally  exacl,  we  muft  calcu- 
late this  plague  to  have  been  eleven  times  more  deadly 
than  the  epidemic.  If  therefore  the  ingenious  claffifiers, 
in  modern  times,  have  brought  into  alliance  the  plague 
with  other  epidemic  difeafes,  and  characlerifed  the  former 
from  the  latter ;  we  may  juftly  fay,  that  they  have  fal- 
len into  the  fame  error  with  other  naturalifls,  who 
characlerife  the  fuperior  from  the  inferior;  the  lion 
from  the  cat,  not  the  cat  from  the  lion.  As  to  the 
remedies  applied  in  thefe  difeafes,  doubtful  in  epide- 
mics, they  fo  univerfally  fail  in  the  true  plague,  that, 
notwithftanding  the  improved  ftate  of  medicine,  we 
may  yet  fay,  it  ftands  among  difeafes,  in  a  great  mea- 
fure,  like  a  giant  without  any  champion  to  oppofe  ;  like 
a  poifon  without  any  antidote. 

In  this  unhappy  predicament,  the  breaking  out  of 
a,  plague,  in  any  city  or  country,  proves  a  moft 
diftreffing  calamity,  not  only  on  account  of  the  num- 
bers deftroyed  by  the  difeafe  itfelf,  but  by  reafon  of 
the  bonds  of  fociety  being  loofed  j  fo  that  humanity 
gives  way  to  terror  ;  children  are  abandoned  by 
their  parents,  and  parents  by  their  children  ;  every 
thing  wears  the  appearance  of  ruin  and  defolation ; 
while,  in  too  many  inftances,  avarice  urges  on  the 

unprincipled 

*  Tranfaft,  of  Society  for  improving  Medical  Knowledge 


4.  A    TREATISE    ON 

unprincipled  to  rapine,  or  even  to  murder.  Nor 
are  the  cruel  modes  of  prevention,  fometimes  prac- 
tifcd  even  by  the  authority  of  the  magiftrate,  lefs 
abhorrent  to  humanity,  than  the  lawlefs  outrages 
of  the  thief  or  murderer.  Inftances  of  all  this  will 
appear  in  the  courfe  of  the  work ;  the  following  are 
fo  remarkable,  that  I  cannot  help  inferting  them  m 
this  place.  In  the  great  plague  at  Marfeilles,  in  1720, 
the  town  being  almoft  deferted,  and  few  choofing  to 
venture  into  it,  "three  fea-captains,  and  fome  hundreds 
*'  of  failors,  having  the  courage  to  enter  the  city,  from 
"  the  fea-fide,  found  therein  a  gang  of  murderers,  who 
*c  made  it  their  bufinefs  to  deflroy  people  feized  with  the 
<c  plague,  and  to  plunder  their  houfes.  The  ringleader 
*c  of  them,,  named  Roitanns,  a  gunfmith,  was  broken  alive 
<£  upon  the  wheel,  and  forty  others  were  hanged.  Rou- 
<e  anne  owned  that  he  had  killed  a  thoufand  perfons. 
<c  There  were  found,  upon  one  of  the  murderers,  jewels 
<c  to  the  value  of  more  than  thirty  thoufand  livres."* 
During  the  time  of  this  public  calamity,  four  men,. who 
came  from  Marfeilles  to  Aix,  were  fliot  by  order  of 
the  parliament,  left  they  mould  have  brought  the  infec- 
tion along  with  them.-f  Even  this  is  not  equal  to  what 
Mr.  Howard  informs  us  was  practifed  in  a  hamlet  of 
Dalmatia,  where,  the  plague  having  raged  with  fuch 
violence,  that  only  two  or  three  remained  ;  the  neigh- 
bouring magiftrates  ordered  theie  miferable  furvivors  to 
be  fhot.  At  fuch  prices  will  people  buy  a  precarious, 
nay,  an  imaginary,  fafety.  In  ihort,  what  Mr.  Gibbon 
fays  of  the  fituation  of  people  in  the  time  of  violent 
earthquakes,  will  alfo,  in  a  great  meafure,  hold  good 
in  the  time  of  peftilence,  or  any  great  publie  calamity. 
"  Inftead  of  the  mutual  fympathy  which  might  comfort 
"  and  affift  the  diftreffed,  they  dreadfully  experience 
"  the  vices  and  paffions  which  are  releafed  from  a  fear 
"  of  punifhment  j  the  houfes  are  pillaged  by  intrepid 
Cf  avarice,  revenge  embraces  the  moment,  and  felects 
"  the  victim  :  while  "|  vengeance  frequently  overtakes 

*  Political  State  for  1 720.          +  Political  fhte,  ibid.  '*  the 

$  Mr.  Gibbon,  agreeably  to  the  fubjeft  on  which  he  writes,  particularifes 
th«  mode  of  vengeaiice;  fftyinp.  «*  the  earth  frequently  fwa//i>tvs  ttp  the  af* 
faffln,'1  Ac.  It  is,  hoped  the  lubftitution  of  the  word  vengeance,  in  general, 
will  not  be  deemed  »  material  alteration. 


THE    PLAGUE,  5 

the  affaffin  or  ravifher  in  the  confurnmation  of  his 


crimes." 


Whether  the  world  hath  been  in  the  fame  predicament 
ever  fince  the  human  race  began  to  multiply,  or  whe- 
ther plagues  have  originated  at  fome  remote  period, 
is  a  queftion  not  eafily  determined.  It  is  certain  that, 
as  far  as  hiftories  go,  they  give  us  accounts  of  plagues; 
much  kfs  frequent  indeed  in  very  ancient  times  than  in, 
thofe  which  followed  -,  but  the  compafs  of  hiftorical 
knowledge  is  narrow.  There  are  no  authentic  hiftories. 
of  any  nation  previous  to  the  termination  of  thofe  of 
the  Old  Teftament.  Where  facred  hi^ory  ends,  pro- 
fane hiftory  begins.  The  fabulous  period  affords  many 
accounts  of  wars,  heroes,  giants,  and  monfters,  but 
fcarce  any  of  plagues.  Diodorus  Siculus  indeed  makes 
mention  of  a  plague  which  happened  in  Greece,  after 
the  flood  of  Deucalion  ;  and  which,  he  fays,  was  occa- 
fioned  by  the  general  corruption  of  vegetables,  &c. 
confequent  on  the  flood.  Deucalion's  flood  is  fuppo- 
fed  to  have  been  nearly  cotemporary  with  the  depar- 
ture of  the  Ifraelites  from  Egypt ;  fo  that,  if  there  is 
any  truth  in  the  relation  of  Diodorus,  it  is  not  impro- 
bable that  fome  of  the  Egyptian  plagues  might  have 
fpread  into  Greece.  We  are  likewife  told  of  a  pe.fti- 
lence  at  Athens  in  the  time  of  Thefeus;*  but  all  the 
accounts  of  thefe  times  are  fo  uncertain,  and  fo  much 
involved  in  fable,  that  little  or  no  dependence  can  be 
placed  on  any  of  them. 

The  firft  diftinc"t  account  we  have  of  plagues  of  any 
kind,  then,  is  in  the  book  of  Exodus,  where  we  are 
told  of  many  heavy  judgments  fent  upon  the  Egyptians 
becaufe  of  their  difobedience.  Before  this,  indeed,  we 
read  of  plagues  fent  on  the  king  of  Egypt,  for  having 
taken  Abraham's  wife ;  but  as  thefe  fell  only  upon  the 
king  and  his  houfehold,  we  cannot  fuppofe  any  thing 
like  a  general  peftilence  to  have  taken  place  among  the 
people.  In  like  manner  did  it  happen  to  Abimelechr 
king  of  Gerar,  on  the  fame  account.  All  the  women 
belonging  to  the  king's  houfehold  were  rendered  barren 

for 

*  Uni7.  Ilift.  vol.  vu 


6  A    TREATISE    ON 

for  a  time ;  but  we  hear  of  nothing  happening  to  the 
nation  at  large.  Again,  when  Mofes  and  Aaron  went 
in  before  Pharaoh,  they  faid  to  him,  "  Let  us  go  and 
faeririce  to  the  Lord  our  God  ;  left  he  fall  upon  us  with 
the  fvvord,  or  with  peftilence"  This  fhews  indeed  that 
both  Mofes  and  Pharaoh  knew  that  fuch  a  thing  as 
pcjf-ilence  exifted,  or  might  exift ;  but  it  cannot  prove 
that  the  difeafe  we  now  call  the  plague  or  peftilence 
commonly  took  place  among  nations  in  thofc  days  as 
it  has  done  fince.  Even  among  the  plagues  inflicled 
upon  the  Egyptians  by  the  hand  of  Mofes  and  Aaron, 
v;e  find  only  two  that  can  be  fuppofed  to  have  any 
fimilarity  to  the  difeafe  we  now  call  the  plague ;  viz.  the 
boil,  and  the  deftmdion  of  their  firft  born.  The  former 
may  have  been  peftilential  buboes ;  the  latter  alfo  may 
have  been  the  effecl  of  a  moft  malignant  peftilence ; 
fuch  as,  in  the  beginning  of  it,  is  faid  frequently  to  kill 
fuddenly,  as  by  lightning  ;  but  whether  it  was  fo  or  not, 
we  cannot  now  determine. 

In  the  hiftory  of  Job,  who  is  fuppofed  to  have  been 
cotemporary  with  Mofes,  we  have  a  cafe  more  in  point. 
The  boils,  with  which  he  was  covered,  are  by  Dr.  Mead 
fuppofed  to  have  been  the  fmall  pox ;  though  in  the 
true  plague  the  body  is  fometimes  covered  with  gangre- 
nous puftules,  conftituting  a  difeafe  ftill  more  dangerous 
and  painful  than  the  fmall  pox;  but  whatever  the 
difeafe  of  Job  was,  we  may  reafonably  conclude,  that  in 
his  time  there  was  none  limilar  to  it  commonly  exifting 
among  mankind. 

After  the  departure  of  the  Ifraelites  from  Egypt,  we 
find  frequent  mention  of  a  plague  as  a  difeafe  common- 
ly to  be  met  with  ;  but  it  was  always  that  of  leprofy ; 
thofe  deftru<5tive  plagues,  which  might  be  fuppofed  to 
refemble  the  difeafe  we  now  call  by  that  name,  being  all 
miraculous.  Concerning  the  prevalence  of  the  leprofy 
among  the  Jews,  Diodorus  fays  that  they  "  were  driven 
"  out  of  Egypt  as  impious,  and  hateful  to  the  gods  ;  for 
"  their  bodies  being  overfpread  and  infected  with  the 
:(-  itch  and  leprofy,  (by  way  of  expiation)  they  got  them 
"  together,  and,  as  profane  and  wicked  wretches,  expelled 

"  them 


THE    PLAGUE.  f 

f*  them  out  of  their  coafts."  This  he  tells  us  was  a  rea-' 
fon  given  to  one  of  the  kings  of  Syria  why  he  fhould  ex- 
terminate the  Jews.  In  another  place  our  author  gives 
the  following  account  of  the  origin  of  the  Jewiih  nation. 
"  In  ancient  times  there  happened  a  great  plague  in  E- 
"  gypt,  and  many  afcribed  the  cauf©  of  it  to  God,  who 
"  was  offended  with  them.  For  there  being  multitudes 
<c  of  ftrangers  of  feveral  nations  who  inhabited  there,  who 
"  ufed  foreign  ceremonies,  the  ancient  manner  of  wor- 
46  fliip  was  quite  loft  and  forgotten.  Hence  the  natural 
ic  inhabitants  concluded,  that  unlefs  the  Grangers  were 
<c  driven  out,  they  mould  never  be  freed  from  their 
"  miferies.  Upon  which  they  were  all  expelled,"  &cr- 
He  then  tells  us  that  feme  of,  them  came  into  Greece 
under  the  conduct  of  Danaus  and  Cadmus ;  but  the 
greater  part  entered  Judea,  then  quite  defert  aud  unin- 
habited. Their  leader  "  was  one  Mofes.,  a  very  wife 
and  valiant  man,"  &c.* 

The  allufion,  in  this  laft  paffage  of  Diodorus,  to  the 
plagues  of  Egypt,  mentioned  in  Exodus,  is  manifeft  -y 
and  it  is  equally  manifeft,  that  the  Egyptians  them- 
felves,  as  well  as  the  facred  hiftorian,  owned  them  to  be 
miraculous.  Here,  however,  let  it  be  remarked,  that, 
though  thefe,  and  others  inflicted  on  the  Ifraelites,  xverc 
miraculous,  we  are  not  from  thence  to  conclude  that 
they  took  place  without  the  intervention  of  natural 
caufes.  On  the  contrary,  in  fpeaking  of  the  plagues  of 
Egypt,  we  are  told,  that  when  the  locufts  came,  "  the 
"  Lord  fent  a  ftrong  eaft  wind,  all  that  day  and  all  that 
"night;  and  when  it  was  morning,  the  eaft  wind 
"  brought  the  locufts."  In  like  manner  "  the  Lord 
"  turned  a  mighty  ftrong  weft  wind,  which  took  away 
"  the  locufts,  and  eaft  them  into  the  Red  fea."  Again, 
when  the  fea  itfelf  was  divided,  "  the  Lord  caufcd  it  to 
go  back  by  a  ftrong  eaft  wind  all  that  night."  The 
Egyptians  were  witneiTes  to  this ;  but,  as  they  did  not 
believe  that  the  powers  of  nature  had  any  fuperior,  they 
could  never  be  induced  to  think  that  any  of  the 
elements  would  take  part  in  a  difpute  between  two 
nations,  or  favour  the  one  more  than  the  other,  la 

*  Diodor.  Sif.  Frag. 


*  A    TREATISE    ON 

In  difeafes  inflicted  on  the  human  body,  we  are 
allured  that  the  powers  of  nature  were  as  much  employed 
as  in  the  miracles  already  mentioned.  When  it  was 
told  David  that  the  child  born  to  him  by  Bathfheba 
ihould  die,  the  infant  was  feized  with  a  natural  diftem- 
per,  probably  a  fever,  and  died  the  feventh  day.  When 
Hezekiah  was  informed  that  he  fhould  die,  he  did  not, 
any  more  than  David  had  done,  give  himfelf  up  to 
tfefpair ;  but  ufed,  for  his  recovery,  fuch  means  as  were 
in  hfs  power,  viz.  prayers  to  God ;  from  whom,  by  the 
confthution  of  things  under  the  Old  Teftament,  he 
would  receive  a  direct  ar.fwer.  And  it  is  remarkable, 
that  though  the  anfwer  was  favourable,  yet  the  difeafe 
was  not  removed  by  any  invifible  power  operating  like 
a  charm,  but  by  the  ufe  of  a  remedy.  It  is  plain  there- 
fore that  this  difeafe  was  occafioned  by  one  natural 
power,  and  removed  by  another.  The  boil  (for  that 
was  the  diftemper)  was  brought  to  maturity  by  a  poul- 
tice of  figs,  and  the  king  recovered.*  If  then  the 
fcripture  informs  us,  that  even  where  the  Deity  himfelf 
fpeaks,  he  has  directed  the  ufe  of  a  remedy,  much  more 
ought  we  to  be  diligent  in  the  ufe  of  fuch  as  our  feeble 
{kill  can  fuggeft,  in  thofe  cafes  where  he  leaves  us  en- 
tirely to  the  exercife  of  our  own  judgments.  To  lit 
down  fupincly,  in  cafe  of  a  dangerous  diftemper,  with  d. 
notion,  that  if  God  wills  us  to  die  we  certainly  (hall  die, 
/;/  any  ufe  of  natural  means ;  and  if  he  wills  the  contrary, 
that  we  (hall  as  certainly  recover,  in  any  negleft  of  them  ^ 
is  a  conduct  equally  unfcriptural  and  abfurd. 

In  the  books  of  Mofcs  we  find  the  Ifraelites, 
in  cafe  of  difobedience,  threatened  with  the  botch  of 
Egypt ;  with  terror,  confumption,  and  the  burning  ague. 
From  the  name  of  this  laft  we  may  reafonably  iuppofe 
it  to  have  been  the  fame  with  the  remitting  fever  of 
the  Eaft,  which  is  attended  with  the  mod  intolerable 
fenfation  of  burning  in  the  bowels ;  but  whatever  the 
nature  of  thefe  difeafes  might  have  been,  they  certainly 
were  not  very  common  in  the  world  at  that  time,  or 
they  would  not  have  been  threatened  as  extraordinary 

judgments. 

*  Mead. 


THE   PLAGUfi.  9 

judgments.  They  were  riot  the  fame  with  the  pefti- 
lence ;  becaufe  we  find,  that  after  they  had  been  threa- 
tened with  fever,  confumption>  and  extreme  burning, 
it  is  added;  "  I  will  make  the  pejlilence  cleave  unto 
thee :"  as  if  it  had  been  faid^  that  the  peftilence,  which 
hitherto  had  appeared  only  oh  extraordinary  occafions, 
ftiould  then  become  endemi^  and  never  leave  them.  But, 
On  the  whole,  the  firft  account  we  have  of  any  general 
plague^  feems  to  be  that  which  Was  inflidted  on  the 
jews  on  account  of  the  fin  of  their  king  in  numbering 
the  people.  David  was  nearly  cotemporary  with  the 
Trojan  war;  and  Homer,  in  the  firft  book  of  his  Iliad, 
informs  us,  that  a  plague  likewife  took  place  in  the 
camp  of  the  Greeks  $  and  that  too  for  the  fin  of  their 
king  in  carrying  off  the  daughter  of  the  prieft  of  Apollo* 
and  refufing  to  reftore  her  at  the  entreaty  of  her 
father. 

In  comparing  the  account  of  the  facred  hiftoriari 
With  that  given  by  Homer,  we  cannot  help  obfefving  a 
ftriking  fimilafity  between  them.  Both  plagues  were 
inflicted  on  the  people  for  the  fin  of  their  kings  $  both 
were  miraculous ;  the  one  continued  three  days,  the 
other  nine.  In  both  the  Deity  hifnfelf  appeared :  an 
angel  bfandifhed  a  drawn  fword  over  Jerusalem ;  and 
Homer  fays,  that^  from  the  top  of  Olympus,  Apollo 
(hot  his  arrows  into  the  Grecian  camp.  Lajftly,  botti 
were  flopped  in  a  fimilar  mariner  i  David  offered  facri* 
fkes  to  the  true  God ;  and  Agamemnon  returned 
Chryfeis,  his  captive,  f.q  her, father,  the  prieft  of  Apollo, 
by  whofe  prayers  and  facrifices  the  plague  was  flopped . 
Hence  it  feems  not  impoffible;  that  the  ftory  told  by 
Homer,'  is  only  that  or  David,  altered  as  he  thought 
mort  proper  for  erilbellifriing  his  poem  f  and  that  this 
was  the  firft  remarkable  plague  in  the  world. 

In  the  year  767  B.  C.  vte  hear  of  a  universal  peffi- 
lence ;  but  the  imperfeft  ftate  of  hiftory  in  thofe  early 
periods  affords  few  accounts  that  can  be  depended 
upon,  either  concerning  that  or  any  thing  elfe.*,  Till 
after  the  foundation  of  Rome,  indeed,  authentic  hiftory 

fcarce 

9  In  the  fubfc^ent  ft^ion  this  plague  will  be  more  full/  treated  of* 

€ 


io  A    TREATISE   ON 

fcarce  commences;  and  it  is  not  till  the  279th  year  of 
that  city,  that  we  hear  of  its  being  in  any  remarkable 
degree  infefted  with  a  peftilerftial  diforder.*  The  plague 
we  fpeak  of  is  faid  to  have  taken  place  about  the  year 
469  B.  C,  which  comes  within  38  years  of  that  of 
Athens  in  the  time  of  the  Peloponnefian  war.  The 
near  coincidence  of  thefe  dates,  in  times  fo  remote,  and 
when  chronology  was  fo  little  fettled,  tends  to  excite  a 
fufpicion'  that  both  arofe  from  the  fame  infection.  Of 
its  ravages  at  Athens  we  have  an  excellent  account  by 
the  hiftorian  Thucydides,<f  who  was  an  eye  witncfs  of 
what  he  writes.  He  fays,  that  according  to  report  it 
began  in  Ethiopia,  from  whence  it  came  down  into 
Egypt,  and  thence  into  other  countries.  It  is  poflible, 
therefore,  that  it  might  reach  Italy  fome  time  before  it 
came  into  Greece  ;  for  it  feems  fcarce  probable,  that 
fuch  a  very  violent  infection  could  have  taken  place  in 
Italy  without  being  communicated  to  the  neighbour  ng 
countries;  whence  we  may  reafonably  conclude,  that. 
the  firft  plague  at  Rome,  and  that  of  Thucydides,  were 
the  fame.  At  Rome,  we  are  informed,  it  fvvvpt  away 
almoft  all  the  flower  of  the  youth  who  were  able  to 
bear  arms,  the  greateft  part  of  the  tribunes,  and  both 
the  confuls.  The  mortality  was  fo  grcaf,  that  no  place 
of  fepulture  could  be  found  for  the  dead  bodies,  but 
they  were  thrown  promifcuoufly  into  the  Tiber.  In 
ihort,  fo  low  were  the  Romans  at  this  time  reduced, 
that  the  JEqui  arid  Volfci,  two  Italian  nations  with 
whom  they  were  almoft  always  at  war,  made  an  imme- 
diate attack,  in  hopes  of  being  eaiily  able  to  carry  the 
city;  but  in  this  they  were  difappointcd.  The  Situa- 
tion of  Athens  was  truly  deplorable  ;  being  not  only 
engaged  in  a  foreign  war,  but  crowded  with  people  from 
the  country;  numbers  dying  daily  in  the  ftreets,  and 
the  furvivors  giving  themfelves  up  to  all  manner  of 
licentioufnefs.'j;  . 

*  A  plague  is  fpoken  of  in  the  time  of  Romulus  ;  but  the  accounts  of  this.* 
and  Tome  others,  are  extremely  obicure&nd 


f  See  Appendix  No.  I. 

.*  See  Thucydides's  account  at  large,  Appendix  No,  I, 


THE    PLAGUE.  U 

As  it  feems  probable  that  the  fame  infecYion  defola- 
ted  both  Rome  and  Athens,  fo  it  feems  not  unlikely 
that  it  was  a  continuance  of  the  fame  which  deftroyed 
the  Carthaginian  army  in  Sicily,  while  carrying  on  a 
fuccefsful  war  againffc  Dionyfius,  tyrant  of  Syracufe. 
The  plague,  as  we  are  informed  by  the  Univerfal  Hif- 
tory,  was  common  in  the  Carthaginian  territories,  efpe- 
cially  thofe  on  the  continent  of  Africa  ;  and  this  pefti- 
lence  broke  out  foon  after  the  conclufion  of  the  Pclo- 
ponnefian  war.  As  it  originally  came  from  Africa,  it  is 
probable  that  it  had  never  been  quite  extinguished 
there;  and  the  compilers  of  the  Univerfal  Hiftory 
think  it  probable  that  the  army  might  have  brought 
the  feeds  of  it  along  with  them  into  Sicily.  But,  what- 
ever was  the  origin,  the  diftemper  foon  became  fa 
malignant,  that  the  living  were  not  fufficient  to  bury 
the  dead  ;  and  thofe  who  attended  the  fick  perifhed  in 
fuch  a  manner,  that,  after  fome  time,  few  dared  to- 
come  near  them.  At  firft  they  gave  the  dead  a  kind 
of  burial  ;  but  in  time  the  number  became  fo  great, 
and  the  furvivors  fo  few  and  weak,  that  an  hundred  and 
fifty  thoufind  are  faid  to  have  rotted  above  ground. 
"  Juftin  feems  to  intimate  that  almoft  the  whole  Car* 
tc  thaginian  army  perifhed  by  the  plague;  and  that  in 
"  a,  manner  all  at  once,  as  it  were  in  an  inftant.  Dio- 
"  dorus,  however,  informs  us,  that  a  confiderable  body 
"  of  Africans  and  Iberians  furvived  the  dreadful  calami- 
<c  ty.  It  is  worth  obfervation,  that  not  a  flngle  perfon 
"  of  thofe  who  attended  the  fick  furvived.*1  The  mi- 
ferable  remains  of  this  army,  confiding  at  firft  of  more 
than  three  hundred  thoufand,  were  now  attacked  by 
their  enemies,  whom  they  were  no  longer  able  to  refift. 
Their  land  forces  were  entirely  defeated,  and  their  fleet 
was  burnt  :  "  the  Gods  themfelves,  (fays  Diodorus) 
"  when  the  mips  were  all  in  a  blaze,  and  the  flames 
v<  afcending  above  the  mafts,  feeming  to  deflroy  the 
"  Carthaginians  with  lightning  from  heaven. "  Fortv 

-  iD  O  -J 

gallic's  ftiil  remained,  and  the  unfortunate  general  was 
now  obliged  to  purchafe  liberty  to  return  with  the  few/ 
he  had  left.  But  even  thefe  were  treacheroufly 

attacked 


i*  A   TREATISE   ON 

attacked  by  the  tyrant's  fleet,  and  feveral  of  them  funk. 
On  his  arrival  at  Carthage,  he  found  the  whole  city  not 
only  in  mourning,  but  in  defpair  ;  "  the  wretched  in- 
"  habitants  giving  full  vent  to  their  grief,  made  the 
"  more  ring  with  their  groans  and  lamentations.  In 
?*  ftiort,  a  greater  fcene  of  horror,  except  the  fpot  of 
"  ground  where  the  Carthaginian  army  encamped  be-* 
«c  fore  Syracufe,  than  Carthage  now  was,  cannot  well  be 
?' conceived."  This  reception  completed  the  defpair 
of  the  unhappy  general.  Clothing  himfelf  in  mean  and 
fordid  attire,  he  joined  with  the  reft  in  bewailing  their 
common  calamities.  After  fome  defperate  exclama- 
tions againft  the  gods,  whom  he  accufed  of  partiality, 
"  The  enemy,  faid  he,  may  rejoice  at  our  mifery,  but 
*'  have  no  reafon  to  glory  in  it.  The  troops  we  have 
"  loft  did  not  fall  by  their  valour,  nor  did  they  now 
<c  oblige  thofe  that  arrived  here  to  leave  Sicily  by  force. 
"  We  return  victorious  over  the  Syracufians,  and  are 
"  only  defeated  by  the  plague.  As  for  the  baggage 
"  found  in  our  camp,  this  ought  not  to  be  looked  upon 
<c  as  the  fpoils  of  a  conquered  enemy,  but  as  moveables 
"  which  the  cafual  death  of  their  owners  has  left  the 
"  Syracufians  in  poffeffion  of."  Having  then  gone  on 
to  exprefs  his  grief  for  the  lofs  of  his  army,  and  declared 
his  intention  not  to  outlive  them,  he  (hut  himfelf  up 
in  his  houfe,  refufing  admittance  even  to  his  own  chil- 
dren, and  put  an  end  to  his  life.* 

Whether  the  unfortunate  remains  of  this  army 
brought  with  them  the  infection  to  Carthage,  and  there 
produced  a  n,ew  fcene  of  defolation,  we  are  not  infor- 
med ;  but  there  feems  to  have  been  a  very  great  tenden- 
cy to  peftilential  diforders  in  the  Carthaginian  armies ; 
for,  in  the  time  of  the  fiege  of  Syracufe  by  Marcellus, 
£  plague  broke  out  in  the  camp  of  the  Carthaginians 
iwho  had  come  to  affift  the  Syracufians.  From  them  it 
pa{Ted  intotHe  city  itfelf,  with  fo  much  malignity,  that 
nothing  was  to  be  feen  but  heaps  of  dead  and  dying. 
Jvlone  durft  receive  or  affift  the  fick,  for  fear  of  being 
infefted  by  them  $  and  the  bodies  of  the  dead  were,  for 

the 

*  Univ.  Hift,  vol.  xvii.  '  ' 


THE   PLAGUE.  i^ 

the  fame  reafon,  left  unburied,  to  infect  and  poifon  the 
air  with  their  putridity  and  corruption.  Nothing  was 
heard,  night  and  day,  but  groans  of  dying  men  -3  and 
the  heaps  of  dead  bodies  continually  prefented  mourn- 
ful objefts  to  the  living,  who  expected  every  moment 
the  fame  fate.*  The  infection  reached  the  Roman 
camp ;  but  we  do  not  hear  of  its  being  conveyed,  at 
this  time,  either  to  Rome  or  Carthage.  In  the  time  of 
the  conteft  with  Jugurtha,  however,  a  very  terrible  ca- 
lamity took  place  in  Africa.  "  According  to  Qrofius, 
<c  a  great  part  of  Africa  was  covered  with  locufts,  which 
*'  deftroyed  ail  the  produce  of  the  earth,  and  even  devour- 
V  ed  dry  wood.  But,  at  laft,  they  were  all  carried  by  the 
."  wind  into  the  fea,  out  of  which  being  thrown  in  vaft 
"  heaps  upon  the  more,  a  plague  enfued,  which  fwept 
<c  away  an  infinite  number  of  animals  of  all  kinds.  In 
6£  Numidia  only,  perifhed  eight  hundred  thoufand  men  j 
"  and  in  Africa  Propria,  two  hundred  thoufand  -,  among 
"  the  reft,  thirty  thoufand  Roman  foldiers,  quartered  in 
"  and  about  Utica  for  the  defence  of  the  laft  mentioned 
"  province.  At  Utica,  in  particular,  the  plague  raged 
"  with  fuch  violence,  that  fifteen  hundred  dead  bodies 
"  were  carried  out  of  one  gate  in  a  day."-j^ 

From  the  time  that  the  Romans  finifhed  their  Afri-* 
can  wars,  till  they  had  accomplifhed  moft  of  their  con^ 
quefts  in  Afia,  their  empire  feems  to  have  continued 
free  from  this  dreadful  fcourge  ;  but  foon  after  the 
deftruclion  of  Jerufalem  by  Titus,  fuch  a  violent  infec- 
tion feized  on  the  city,  that  for  fome  time  upwards  of 
twenty  thoufand  are  faid  to  have  died  in  it  daily. 

As  the  Roman  arms  were  carried  ftill  farther  to  the 
eaftward,  and  all  the  countries  reduced,  to  the  confines 
of  Periia,  the  plague  feems  to  have  become  more  com- 
rnon  among  them.  In  the  time  of  Marcus  Aurelius,  a 
war  was  undertaken  againft  the  Parthians,  which  was 
carried  on  by  the  Romans  with  great  fuccefs,  and  with 
no  lefs  cruelty  ;  for,  though  the  city  of  Sclcucia  opened 
its  gates  to  the  Roman  general,  he  caufed  the  inhabi- 
tants, |:Q  the  number  of  four  hundred  thoufand,  to  be 

maflacred. 

*  Uiiiv.  Hilt,  vol.  viii,  t  Id,  yol. 


14  A    TREATISE    ON 

mafTicred,  Bat  they  foon  paid  dear  for  this  cruelty, 
by  a  dreadful  peftilence,  which  broke  out,  according; 
to  the  hiftorian  Ammianus  Mircellinus,  in  the  very 
city  which  they  had  d.Tolated,  and  was  brought  by 
their  army  into  Itily,  fro-n  whence  it  fpread  through- 
out  the  whole  empire.  Other  hiftorians  fay,  that  it 
originated  in  Ethiopia,  from  whence  it  fpread  into 
E^ypt,  and  thence  into  the  country  of  the  Parthians. ' 
We  knov  not  how  long  the  infection  continued;  only 
that,  fome  years  afterwards,  when  the  emperor  was 
defeated  by  the  Germans,  the  peftilence  ftill  raged  to 
fuch  a  decree,  that  fUves,  gladiators,  and  even  the  ban- 
ditti of  Dilnmtia  and  Dardania,  were  enlifted  for  the 
defence  of  the  empire.  It  is  certain  that  great  havock 
mufl  haveibeen  made  by  it,  as  we  find  that  the  barbari- 
ans were  encouraged  to  invade  the  empire  on  all  fides, 
and  could  fcarccly  be  repulfcd  ;  infomuch  that  hiftori- 
ans compare  this  with  the  moft  deftructive  wars  the 
Romans  had  ever  waged.* 

Daring  the  time  that  the  empire  was  overrun  by  the 
northern  barbarians,  the  plague  frequently  made  its 
appearance;  which  we  fhill  have  occafion  to  notice 
more  particularly  in  the  following  fecYion  ;  but  in  thofe 
times  the  deftruftlon  by  the  fword  was  fo  extraordinary, 
that  lefs  mention  is  made  by  hiftory  of  any  peftilential 
diforder.  In  the  time  of  Juftinian,  however,  about 
fixty-n"vre  years  after  the  final  deftrudion  of  the  weftern 
empire,  the  moft  violent  plague  recorded  in  hiftory  took 
place.  Of  this  we  have  a  particular  account  by  Proco- 
pms.-j-  "  The  diftemper  (fays  Mr.  Gibbon)  arofe  in  the 
"  neighbourhood  of  Pelufium,  on  the  Confines  of  Egypt, 
4<  between  the  Sarbonian  bog  and  the  eaitern  channel 
<e  of  the  Nile.  From  thence,  tracing,  as  it  were,  a 
"  double  path,  it  fpread  to  the  eaft,  over  Syria,  Perfia, 
"  and  the  Indies,  and  penetrated  to  the  weft,  ajong  the 
<c  coaft  of  Africa,  and  over  the  continent  of  Europe, 
r<  In  the  fpring  of  the  fecond  year,  Conftantinople,  dur- 
<c  ing  three  or  four  months,  v/as  vifited  by  this  pefti- 
^  Icncc.  Such  was  the  corruption  of  the  air,  that  the  pel- 

tileace 

*  Uftiv.  Hift.  vol.  xv.  -f  See  Appendix,  No.  IX. 


THE    PLAGUE.  15 

**  tilence  was  not  checked,  nor  alleviated,  by  any  differ- 
"  ence  of  feafons.  The  numbers  that  penfhcd  in  this 
"  extraordinary  mortality  have  not  been  recorded  ;  only 
"  we  find  that,  during  three  months,  there  died  at  Con- 
"  ftantinople  five,  and  at  lad  ten  thoufand  a  day.  M  my 
"  cities  of  the  eaft  were  left  vacant,  and,  in  feveral  dif* 
"  trids  of  Italy,  the  harveft  and  vintage  withered  on  the 
*5  ground.  The  triple  fcourge  of  war,  peftilence  and 
*c  famine  affixed  the  fubjedh  of  Juftinian  $  and  his 
<;  reign  is  difgraced  by  a  vifible  decreafe  of  the  human 
'"  fpecies,  which  has  never  been  repaired,  in  fome  of  the 
*'  faireft  countries  of  the  globe."* 

This  plague  broke  out  in  the  time  of  Juftinian,  in 
the  year  541  or  542  of  the  chriftian  era;  and  not  only 
ravaged  Conftantmople  in  the  time  of  Juftinian,  but 
returned  with  incrcafed  violence  during  the  reigns  of 
many  of  his  fucceffors.  In  the  time  of  Mauritius  we 
find  the  Avari,  a  barbarous  nation  to  the  north  of  the 
Danube,  driven  back  by  the  plague  after  they  had  crof- 
fed  that  river  to  invade  the  Roman  territories.  The 
reign  of  Phocas,  fucceilbr  to  Mauritius,  was  ftill  more 
unfortunate.  "  Great  numbers  were  fwept  off,  either 
"  by  famine  or  peftilence;  the  earth  refuftd  her  fruits 
"  in  feafon  ;  the  winters  were  fo  fevere,  that  the  feas 
ft  were  frozen,  and  the  fiih  deflroyed."  Phocas  afcend- 
ed  the  imperial  throne  in  603  ;  but  in  the  midft  of 
fuch  confufion  as  then  filled  the  world,  we  can  fcarce 
exped  an  accurate  account  of  the  time  when  this  mofc 
malignant  pcfcilence  ceafed.  We  can  fcarcely  fuppofc 
it  to  have  bfted  two  centuries  ;  but,  in  the  reign  of 
Conilantine  Copicnymus,  which  began  in  742,  we  find 
the  difcempcr  ftill  raging,  and  the  fame  dreadful  phe- 
nomena of  nature  ftill  continuing.  The  plague,  we  arc 
now  told,  broke  cut  in  Calabria  in  Italy;  whence  it  foon 

(bread 

*  Gibbon's  Hift,  vol.  iv.  Prccopius,  in  fpeaking  of  the  numbers  who  died 
in  this  extraordinary  plague,  compares  them  to  the  fand  of  the  lea  ;  and  af- 
terwards expreiTes  them  by  a  phrafe  which  has  been  translated  iv.-o  hundred 
millions.  The  phrafe  is  myriadxs  myrladon  nyriai.  Mr.  Gibbon,  by  drop- 
ping the  firft  word*  reftri£ts  the  lenfe  to  one  hundred  millions?  which  he 
thinks  not  wholly  inadniiflible;  but  the  probability  feems  to  be,  thai  Proco- 
JMUS  did  not  mean  to  fpecify  the  number,  but  to  reprefent  it  as  incalculable. 
This  is  done  by  putting  a  comma,  or  iemicolon,  after  the  firft  word  ;  and  we 
may  then  read,  that  there  perifhed  myriad: ;  a  myriad  of  myriads.  The  grarr> 
jttar  is  r«&itied  bf  reading  mjriades  iuiteg4  of  mjritfai. 


16  A    TREATISE    ON 

fpread  over  Greece,  Sicily,  the  iftands  in  the-#£gean  fea, 
and  at  lafl  reached  Conftantinople;  where  it  raged  for 
three  years  together,  with  fueh  fury,  that  the  living 
were  fcarce  fufficient  to  bury  the  dead.  The  earth- 
quakes* which  accompanied  or  preceded  this  peftilence, 
were  fuch  as  had  never  been  known  in  any  age.  In  Sy- 
ria and  Falefline  feveral  cities  were  fwallowed  up  ; 
others,  entirely  ruined  ;  and  fome,  if  we  may  give  credit 
to  Nicephorus,  removed  without  any  considerable  da- 
mage, fix  miles  and  upwards  from  their  former  feats.  At 
the  fame  time  happened  an  extraordinary  darknefs,  which 
Jafted  from  the  fourth  of  Auguftto  the  firft  of  October, 
there  being  little  or  no  diftindtion,  during  all  that  time, 
between  day  and  night.*  During  the  reign  of  the  fame 
prince,  there  happened  fuch  an  extraordinary  froft,  that, 
at  Conftantinople,  both  feas  were  frozen  for  an  hundred 
miles  from  the  more ;  the  ice  being  covered  with  fnow 
twenty  cubits  deep,  and  fufficiently  ftrong  to  bear  the 
heavieft  carriages.  When  the  froft  broke*  mountains 
of  ice  and  frozen  fnow,  being  driven  by  the  wind 
through  the  ftraits,  did  a  great  deal  of  damage  to  the  walls 
of  Conftantinople.  The  month  following,  fevefal  pro- 
digies appeared,  or  were  thought  to  appear,  in  the  air» 
At  the  fame  time  a  comet,  which  the  Greeks  called 
EhcittSi  becaufe  it  refembled  a  beam,-  was  feen  for  ten 
days  in  the  eaft,  from  whence  it  moved  into  the  weft, 
and  fhone  there  for  one  and  twenty  days  more.  The 
people  were  ftruck  with  terror  and  amazement  at  the 
fight  of  the  prodigies,  and  apprehended  the  laft  day  to 
be  at  hand.-}-  Dreadful  earthquakes,  ft&nge  phenome- 
na in  the  heavens,  inundations,  Sec.  occurred  in  the 
year  812,  during  the  reign  of  Michael  Balbus  ;  but  no 
remarkable  plague  is  mentioned  by  the  Greek  hiftori- 
ans,-  till  the  year  1025,  when  a  new  train  of  calamities 
took  place.  '  The  plague  broke  out  in  Cappadocia,  ra- 
ging with  fuch  violence  there,  as  well  as  in  Paphlagonia 
and  Armenia,  that  the  people  were  forced  to  abandon' 
their,  dwellings.  A  terrible  famine  followed  ;  after 
which'  the  earthquakes  again  commenced  with  redou- 
bled" 

»'  tfni*.  Hiff.  vol.  xvii.  *  Ibid, 


THE   PLAGUE.  17 

bled  fury  :  at  Conftantinoplc  they  continued  forty  days 
together;  while  people  were  terrified  by  a  comet  (proba- 
bly a  large  meteor)  which  pafled  with  a  dreadful  noife 
from  north  to  fouth  $  the  whole  horizon  appearing  to 
be  in  a  flame. 

From  thefe  calamities  the  world,  at  lead  that  part  of 
it  known  to  the  Greek  hiftorians,  appears  to  have  en- 
joyed fome  refpite  till  the  year  1346.     Indeed  we  may 
now  fay>  as  in  the  time  of  the  invafion  by  the  northern 
barbarians,    that  the   fword,  and   not   the    peftilence> 
was  the  plague  of  thofe  times,     A  rnoft  violent  and 
univerfal  peftilence,  however,  now  took  place  j  though, 
for  want  of  fuch  hiftorians  as  Thucydides  and  Procopi- 
us,  we  cannot  here  give  a  particular  account  of  it.     In 
general  we  are  told,  that  it  began  in  the  kingdom  of 
Cathay  (the  northern  part  of  China)  from    whence  it 
gradually  overfpread  all  the  countries  between  that  and 
the  weftern  extremity  of  Aria.     Invading,  at  laft,  Con- 
ftantinople,  it  proceeded  from  thence  to  Greece,  Italy, 
France,  Africa,  Germany,  Hungary,  Denmark,  Britain 
and  Ireland.     Thus,  it  feems  to  have  been  as  extenlive 
&  contagion  as  ever  appeared  in  the  world.     It  is  even 
probable,   that,  from  the   remains   of  this  contagion, 
Europe  hath  been  but  very  lately  fet  at  liberty ;  as  we 
hear,  not  long  after,  of  plagues  being  very  frequent  in 
different  parts  of  that  continent.     In  England  it  affu- 
med  fomewhat  of  a  new  form  towards  the  end  of  the 
Fifteenth  century ;  being  then  known  by  the  name  of 
the   Englifh   Sweating  Sicknefs.     But,   except  in  the 
greater  propeniity  to  iweat,  the  difeafe  appears  not  to 
have  differed  from  the  true  plague.    The  fweating  fick- 
nefs  firft  ma.de  its  appearance  in  the  army  of  Henry 
VII,  when  he  landed  at  Milford  in   1483  ;  and  that 
year  invaded   London,  where  it  continued  only  from 
the    2 1 ft   of  September   to   the  end   of  October.      It 
returned  in  1485,   1506,  1517,   1528  and  1551  ;  fince 
which  time  it  has  not  been  known  in  Britain.    In  1517 
it  was  extremely  violent  and  mortal ;  fometimes  killing 
the  fick.in  three  hours;  and  fo  general  was  the  infec- 
tion,- that,  in  fome  places,  one  half  of  the  inhabitants 

D  died. 


18  A    TREATISE    ON 

died.     In  1528  it  alfo  raged  with  great  violence;  th$ 
fick  fometimes  dying  in  four  hours.     The  lad  attack, 
in  1551,  was  alto  very  violent.    In  1529  it  appeared  in 
Holland  and  Germany,   deftroying  great  numbers  of 
people  ;  but  it  hath  not  been  obferved,  at  lead  in  any 
remarkable  degree,  in  thofe  countries  fince  that  time. 
In  the  courfe  of  the  lyth  century,  various  parts  of  Eu- 
rope have  fufFered  very  much  from  the  plague  in  its  - 
ufual   form.     Indeed   (for  reafons  given  in  the  fubfe- 
quent   fedion)  we   can  fcarce   fuppofe  the   peflilential 
contagion  ever  to  have  ceafed  entirely.     In  1603,  L°n~ 
don  was  viiited  with  the  plague  ;  and  on   this  occafion 
the  pradice  of  fhutting  up  infeded  houfes  was   firft 
introduced.*     In    1656  another  plague  took  place  in 
the  fame  metropolis,  but  does  not  appear  to  have  made 
any  violent  attack.     In  Naples  it  raged  that  year  with 
great   fury  ;  deftroying,  according   to  feme   accounts, 
fifteen  thoufand,  according  to  others,  twenty  thoufand., 
a  day.     But  thefe  accounts  the  author  of  the  Journal 
juft   quoted,  with  great  probability,  fuppofes  to  have 
been  exaggerated.    Others  fay,  that  four  hundred  thou-4 
land  Neapolitans  were  deftroyed  by  this  infedion  ;   fo 
that  we  muft  at  any  rate  believe  it  to  have  been  very 
violent.     In  the  plague  of  London  in  1665,  immenfe 
numbers  perifhed  ;  and  particular  accounts  were  pub- 
lilhed  of   this  calamity ;    of  which  an  abridgment  is 
given  in  the   Appendix  to  this  work,  No  III.     Since 
that  time  i£  has  not  been  known  in  Britain  -,  but  other 
parts  of  Europe  have  not  been  equally  fortunate.     In 
the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century  it  appeared  in 
feveral  parts  of  the  continent ;  particularly  in  Copenha-^ 
gen  in  the  year  1711  $  where  it  committed  great  rava- 
ges, as  it  had  done  at  Dantzic  two  years  before  ;  but  in 
1720    it    appeared    at    Marfeilles   in    France,    where  it 
raged  with  fuch  fury  as  to  deftroy  fixty  out  of  the  hun- 
dred thoufand  fuppofed  to  be  the  whole  population  of 
the   place.-}*     Since   that    time  France  hath   been  free 
from  the  diftemper  ;    but  in  Sicily,  the  dominions  of 
the  Ottoman  Porte,  and  places  adjacent,  it  hath  been 

felt 

*  Jtttrnal  of  the  Plague  Year.  f  See  Appendix,  No.  IV. 


THE   PLAGUE.  19 

felt  very  feverely.  In  1743  it  was  fuppofed  to  have 
deftroyed  two  thirds  of  the  inhabitants  of  Mefflna.  A 
particular  account  of  its  ravages  was  read  before  the 
Royal  Society  of  London  by  Dr.  Mead.  The  follow- 
ing is  taken  from  Dr.  Lobb's  Treatife  on  the  Plague. 
M  From  the  beginning  of  June  to  the  end  of  July,  of 
"  forty  thoufand  inhabitants,  two  thirds  perifhed.  The 
"  diforders  in  the  city  were  incredible.  All  the  bakers 
"  died,  and  no  bread  was  baked  for  many  days.  The 
"  ftreets  were  full  of  dead  bodies ;  at  one  time  from 
"  twelve  to  fifteen  thoufand  remaining  in  the  open 
"  air :  men,  women  and  children,  rich  and  poor,  all  toge- 
"  ther  dragged  to  the  church  doors.  The  vaults  being 
"full,  and  the  living  not  fufficient  to  carry  the  dead 
"  out  of  the  city,  they  were  obliged  to  put  them  on 
f '  funeral  piles,  and  burn  them  promifcuoufly.  No- 
*c  thing  was  more  (hocking  than  to  fee  people,  far  above 
"  the  common  ftations,  go  about  begging  for  a  loaf  of 
«  bread,  when  they  could  hardly  walk,  with  their 
"  tumours  upon  them  ;  and  few  were  in  a  flate  to  help 
44  them.  All  thefe  calamities  did  not  hinder  the  moft 
"  execrable  villanies,  which  were  committed  every  mo» 
"  ment ;  and,  though  fo  few  furvived,  the  governor 
6C  was  obliged  to  make  feveral  public  examples/' 

In  the  Turkilh  dominions,  though  we  have  not  read 
of  fuch  extraordinary  devaluations  as  formerly  took  place, 
5'et  we  are  allured  that  the  peftilence  rages  there  very 
frequently.  From  1756  to  1762  we  have  hiftories  of  it 
by  Dr.  Ruffe  1  and  others,  the  fubftance  of  which  ac- 
counts is  given  in  the  Appendix,  No.  V,  In  the  time 
of  the  great  war  between  the  Turks  and  Ruffians,  it 
found  its  way  to  Mofcow,  which  city  it  invaded  in  xyjl* 
M.  Savary  fays,  it  was  brought  thither  by  infected  mer- 
chandife  from  the  (lore  houfes  of  the  Jews  ;  and  that 
it  carried  off  two  hundred  thoufand  people.  In  the 
fixth  volume  of  the  Medical  Commentaries,  however, 
we  are  told  that  it  was  brought  from  the  army  by  two 
foldiers  ;  both  of  whom  were  carried  into  the  military 
hofpital,  and  both  died.  The  aoatomift  who  diifected 
their  bodies  died  alfo.  The  infection  quickly  feized 

the 


so  A    TREATISE    ON 

the  hofpital,  and  thence  the  whole  city.  This  happen- 
ing in  the  beginning  of  the  year,  its  progrefs  was  for 
ibme  time  checked  by  the  cold ;  but  its  ravages  be- 
came greater  as  the  fummer  advanced.  It  raged  moil 
violently  during  the  months  of  July,  Augufl  and  Sep- 
tember ;  in  which  time  there  were  inftances  of  its 
deftroying  twelve  hundred  perfons  in  a  day.  Twenty- 
five  thoufand  died  in  the  month  of  September ;  in  the 
courfe  of  which  month  fcarce  one  in  an  hundred  of  the 
Infected  recovered.  Only  feventy  thoufand,  according 
to  this  account,  perifhed  by  the  difeafe.  The  year  1/73 
proved  very  fatal  to  BaiTorah  ;  where,  as  formerly  men- 
tioned, two  hundred  and  feventy-five  thoufand  perifhed 
in  the  fummer  feafon,  through  the  violence  of  the  dif- 
temper.*  But  in  countries  where  the  plague  rages  fp 
frequently,  and  where  there  are  few  that  make  obferva- 
tions  with  any  accuracy,  we  cannot  expect  complete 
hiftories  of  every  attack  made  by  it  -,  neither  would  the 
limits  of  this  Treatife  admit  of  a  detail  of  them,  though 
there  were.  We  know,  however,  that  fince  the  year 
we  fpeak  of,  the  plague  has  ravaged  Dalmatia,  particu- 
larly in  the  year  1784,  when  it  almoil  defolated  the 
town  of  Spalatro,  deftroying  three  or  four  thoufand  of 
its  inhabitants.  Though  fome  countries  therefore  have 
for  a  number  of  years  remained  free  from  the  attacks 
of  this  terrible  enemy,  yet  there  are  others  where  it  is 
as  it  were  ftored  up,  and  from  whence  it  may,  on  a 
proper  occafion,  break  forth  as  formerly,  and  once 
more  fpread  ruin  and  defolation  through  the  world. 

SECTION 

*  An  Englifh  gentlemani  who  refidfed  in  Baflbrah  at  that  time»  preferred 
himfelf  from  the  infedion  by  retiring  to  a  mud-howfe,  where  he  had  no 
communication  with  the  inhabitants.  Having  a  large  quantity  of  Bengal 
cotton,  he  fold  it  to  the  people  to  wrap  their  dead  in.  The  price  was  put  in 
a  baficet,  which  he  hauled  up  by  a  rope  to  his  ware-room  ;  lowering  it  again 
with  the  proportionate  quantity  of  cloth.  In  the  courfe  of  the  fummer  he 
had  an  account  oiffiHnty  thoufand  winding  flieets  thus  difpofed  of  1 

(Tmifact.  ot  a  Society  for  improving  Medical  Knowledge.} 


THE   PLAGUE.  21 


SECTION    II. 

Of  the  Countries  where  the  Plague  is  fuppofed  to  originate. 
—  The  Influence  of  Climate  in  producing  Difeajes — And 
of  the  Moral  Conduct  of  the  Human  Race  in  producing 
and  influencing  the  Jame. 

IN  confidering  the  origin  of  a  calamity  fo  dreadful 
and  fo  univerfal,  we  might  reafonably  fuppefe  that 
the  fatal  fpots  which  gave  rife  to  it  would  long  ago  have 
been  marked  out  and  abandoned  by  the  human  race 
altogether.  But  this  is  far  from  being  the  cafe.  In  the 
accounts  already  given  of  various  plagues,  they  are  al- 
ways faid  to  have  been  imported  from  country  to  coun- 
try, but  never  to  have  originated  in  that  of  the  perfon 
who  wrote  of  them.  If  a  plague  arofe  in  Greece,  we  are 
told  it  came  from  Egypt ;  if  in  Egypt,  it  came  from 
Ethiopia  ;  and  had  we  any  Ethiopic  hiftorians,  they 
would  no  doubt  have  told  us  that  it  came  from  the  land 
of  the  Hottentots,  from  Terra  Auftralis  Incognita,  or 
fome  other  country  as  far  diftant  as  poffible  from  their 
own.  In  fhort,  though  it  has  been  a  moft  generally 
received  opinion,  that  plagues  are  the  immediate  effects 
of  the  difpleafure  of  the  Deity  on  account  of  the  fins  of 
men  ;  yet,  except  David  and  Homer  (already  quoted) 
we  find  not  one  who  has  had  the  candour  to  acknow- 
ledge that  a  plague  originated  among  his  countrymen 
on  account  of  their  fins  in  particular.  In  former  times 
Egypt  and  Ethiopia  were  marked  out  as  the  two  great 
fources  of  the  plague ;  and  even  as  late  as  the  writings 
of  Dr.  Mead  we  find  that  the  fame  opinion  prevailed. 
The  Doctor,  who  attempts  to  explain  the  caufes  of  the 
plague,  derives  it  entirely  from  the  filth  of  the  city  of 
Cairo,  particularly  of  the  canal  that  runs  through  it. 
But  later  writers,  who  have  vifited  and  refided  in  Egypt, 
allure  us  that  the  country  is  extremely  healthy,  and  that 
the  plague  is  always  brought  there  from  Con  flan  tinople. 
It  is  true  that  Dr.  Timone,  in  the  Philofophical  Tranf- 
actions,  No.  364,  tells  us,  that  it  appears  from  daily 
obfervation,  as  well  as  from  hiftory,  that  the  plague 

comes 


2*  A    TREATISE    ON 

comes  to  Conftantinople  from  Egypt ;  but  the  united 
teftimonies  of  Savary,  Volney,  Mariti  and  Ruilel,  who 
all  agree  that  Egypt  receives  the  infection  from  Conftan* 
tinople,  muft  undoubtedly  preponderate. 

4  The  peftilence  (fays  M,  Savary)  is  not  a  native  of 
*  Egypt.  I  have  collected  information  from  the  Egyp- 
"  tians,  and  foreign  phyficians  who  have  lived  there 
"  twenty  or  thirty  years  ;  which  all  tended  to  prove  the 
rc  contrary.  They  have  affured  me  that  this  epidemic 
"  difeafe  was  brought  thither  by  the  Turks,  though  it 
;c  has  committed  great  ravages,  I  myfelf  faw  the  cara^ 
*c  velles  of  the  Grand  Signior,  in  1778,  unlade,  according 
"  tocuftom,  the  fiiks  of  Syria  at  Damietta.  The  plague 
:t  is  almoft  always  on  board ;  and  they  landed,  without 
"  oppofhion,  their  merchandife,  and  their  people  who 
:c  had  the  plague.  It  was  the  month  of  Auguft  j  and, 
"  as  the  difeafe  was  then  over  in  Egypt,  it  did  not 
<c  communicate  that  feafon.  The  vefTels  fet  fail,  and 
ic  went  to  poifon  other  places.  The  fummer  following, 
*'*  the  fhips  of  Conftantinople,  alike  infected,  came  to 
"  the  port  of  Alexandria,  where  they  landed  their  dif- 
<c  eafed  without  injury  to  the  inhabitants.  It  is  an  ob- 
**  fervation  of  ages,  that  if,  during  the  months  of  June, 
**  July  and  Auguft,  infeded  merchandife  be  brought 
ic  into  Egypt,  the  plague  expires  of  itfelf,  and  the  peo- 
*c  pie  have  no  fears ;  and  if  brought  at  other  feafon s, 
*'  and  communicated,  it  then  ceaies.  A  proof  that  it 
fc  is  not  a  native  of  Egypt  is,  that,  except  in  times  of 
"  great  famine,  it  never  breaks  out  in  Grand  Cairo,  nor 
*'  the  inland  towns,  but  always  begins  at  the  feaports 
fs  on  the  arrival  of  Turkifh  vefll-ls,  and  travels  to  the 
"  capital ;  whence  it  proceeds  as  far  as  Syria.  Having 
**  come  to  a  period  in  Cniro,  and  being  again  intro- 
^  duced  by  the  people  of  Upper  Egypt,  it  renews  with 
•w  greater  fqry,  and  fometimes  (vveeps  cff  two  or  three 
"hundred  thoufand  fouls;  but  always  ftops  in  the 
"  month  of  June,  or  thofe  who  catch  it  then  are  eafily 
""  cured.  Smyrna  and  Conftantinople  are  now  the 
*'  rchdcncc  of  this  moft  dreadful  affliciion." 

M.  Volney 


THE    PLAGUE.  13 

M.  Volney  informs  us,  that  the  European  merchants 
tefiding  at  Alexandria  agree  in  declaring  that  the  dif- 
eafe  never  proceeds  from  the  internal  parts  of  the  coun- 
try, but  always  makes  its  firft  appearance  on  the  fea- 
coafts  at  Alexandria ;  from  thence  it  paifes  to  Rofetta, 
from  Rofetta  to  Cairo,  and  from  Cairo  to  Damietta, 
anc^through  the  reft  of  the  Delta.  It  is  invariably  prece- 
ded by  the  arrival  of  fome  vefTel'from  Smyrna  or  Conftan- 
tinople  j  and  it  is  obferved,  that  if  the  plague  has  been 
violent  during  the  fummer,  the  danger  is  greater  for 
the  Alexandrians  during  the  following  winter. 

To  the  fame  purpofe,  the  Abbe  Mariti  fays,  "  The 
"  plague  does  not  ufually  refide  in  Syria,  nor  is  this 
<c  the  place  where  it  ufually  begins^  It  receives  this 
"  fatal  prefent  from  Eo;ypt,  where  its  ufual  feat  is 
"  Alexandria,  Cairo  or  Damietta.  The  plague  of  1760 
"  came  at  once  from  Cairo  and  Alexandria  3  to  the 
"  latter  of  which  it  had  been  brought  from  Conftanti- 
"  nople.  When  it  comes  from  that  capital,  as  well  as 
"  from  the  cities  of  Smyrna  and  Saloniea,  it  acquires  a 
"  peculiar  malignity  ;  and  its  activity  never  expands 
"  itfelf  with  more  fury  than  in  the  plains  of  Egypt, 
"  which  it  overfpreads  with  incredible  rapidity.  It  is 
"  obferved,  that  this  plague,  fo  deftrudive  to  Egypt, 
<J  feldom  attacks  Syria ;  but  that  the  latter  has  every 
"  thing  to  dread  from  a  plague  hatched  in  the  bofom 
"of  Egypt." 

The  teftimony  of  thefe  three  authors,  who  have  all 
been  lately  on  the  fpot,  muft  certainly  have  very  great 
weight,  especially  wheit  corroborated  by  that  of  Dr. 
Ruflel ;  for  which  fee  Appendix,  No.  V.  But  dill  there 
is  fome  difficulty.  M.  Savary  informs  us,  that,  except  in 
cafes  of  great  famine ',  the  difeafe  never  bfeaks  out  in 
Cairo  ;  which  certainly  implies  that  in  cafes  of  famine 
it  does  originate  in  the  city  itfelf;  and  Mariti,  by  fay- 
ing that  the  Syrians  have  much  reafon  to  dread  a  plague 
hatched  in  the  bo/om  of  Egypt,  undoubtedly  intimates 
that  plagues  fometknes  do  originate  in  Egypt.  Smyrna 
and  Saloniea  likewife  feem  to  come  in  for  their  fhare  of 
the  blame  ;  and  Dr.  M'Bride,  in  his  Practice  of  Phyfic, 

informs 


24  A    TREATISE    ON 

informs  us,  that  fome  parts  of  Turky  are  vifited  by  the 
plague  once  in  fix  or  feven  years ;  and  M.  Savary  fays, 
that  Egypt  is  vifited  with  it  once  in  four  or  five  years ; 
but  if  Egypt  never  receives  it  but  from  Turky,  it  would 
feem  that  the  plague  could  at  leaft  be  no  more  frequent 
than  in  that  country  ;  or,  if  the  fact  be  otherwife,  that 
the  difeafe  muft  either  originate  in  Egypt  itfelf,  or  be 
brought  to  it  from  fome  other  country  than  Turky. 
Dr.  Timone,  in  the  paper  already  quoted,*  tells  us, 
that  the  plague  has  taken  up  its  refidence  in  Conftan- 
tinople ;  but  that,  though  the  feeds  of  the  old  plague 
are  fcarce  ever  wanting,  yet  a  new  infection  is  likewife 
imported  from  time  to  time.  Thus,  in  attempting  to 
find  out  the  countries  where  the  plague  originates,  we 
are  led  in  a  circle.  Conftaritinople  accufes  Egypt,  and 
Egypt  recriminates  on  Conftantinople.  Ethiopia,  the 
moft  diftant  and  leaft  known  of  thofe  countries  which 
in  former  times  had  any  connexion  with  the  more  civi- 
lized parts  of  the  world,  for  a  long  time  bore  the  blame 
of  all ;  but  the  Jefuit  miffionaries  who  refided  long  in 
Abyflinia  (the  ancient  Ethiopia)  do  not  mention  the 
plague  as  more  common  in  that  country  than  fome 
others ;  neither  does  Mr.  Bruce,  in  the  accounts  he  has 
published,  take  notice  of  any  fuch  thing.  Ethiopia 
could  not  fpeak  for  itfelf,  by  reafon  of  the  ignorance 
and  barbarity  of  its  inhabitants;  and  Conftantinople  is 
now  very  much  in  the  fame  predicament.  The  invei- 
tigation  of  this  fubjecl  therefore  would  require  an  accu* 
rate  account  of  the  climates  of  thofe  countries  where 
the  plague  is  found  to  commit  the  greatcft  ravages,  and 
a  comparifon  of  them  with  thofe  which  are  now  ac- 
counted the  moft  unhealthy  in  other  refpects,  and  like- 
wife a  comparifon  of  the  difeaies  produced  in  the  latter, 
with  the  true  plague. 

The  moft  unhealthy  climates  now  exifting  (thofe 
where  the  plague  commonly  rages  excepted)  are  to  be 
met  with  in  the  hotteft  parts  of  the  world  ;  the  Eaft 
and  Weft  Indies,  the  waftes  of  Africa,  and  fome  parts 
of  America.  In  all  thefe,  Dr.  Lind,  who  has  written  a 

trcatifc 

*  Philofoph.  Tranfad.  No.  364. 


THE   PLAGUE*  25 

treatife  on  the  difeafes  incident  to  Europeans  in  hot 
climates,  feems  to  lay  the  whole  blame  upon  the  heat 
and   moifture  accompanying   it.     In   the   Eaft  Indies 
Bencoolen,  in  the  ifland  of  Sumatra,  is  the  moft  un- 
healthy of  all  the  Englifh  fettlements;    but  he  informs 
us,  that  by  building  their  fort  on  a  dry,  elevated  place, 
about  three  miles  from  the  town,  it  became  fufficiently 
healthy.     Next  to  this,  Bengal  is  moft  fubject  to  lick- 
nefs;  for  which  heafligns  the  following  reafon  :     "  The 
"  rainy  feafon  commences  at  Bengal  in  June,  and  conti* 
"  nues  till  O&ober  ;  the  remainder  of  the  year  is  healthy 
"  arid  pleafant.     During  the  rains,  this  rich  and  fertile 
"  country  is  covered  by  the  Ganges,  and  converted  as  it 
"  were  into  a  large  pool  of  water.    In  the  month  of  Odto- 
"  ber,when  the  fbgnated  water  begins  to  be  exhaled  by 
"  the  heat  of  the  fun,  the  air  is  then  greatly  polluted  by 
"  the  vapours  from  theflime  and  mud  left  by  the  Ganges, 
<e  and  by  the  corruption  of  dead  fifh  and  other  animals. 
Difeafes  then  rage,  attacking  chiefly  fuch  as  are  lately 
arrived.     The  diftempers  are  fevers  of  the  remitting  or 
intermitting  kind;   for,  though  fometimes  they  may 
"  continue   feveral  days  without  fenfible  remiffion,  yet 
"  they  have  in  general  a  great  tendency  to  it.    If  the  fea- 
"  fon'  be  very  fickly,  fome  are  feized  with  a  malignant  fe* 
"  ver,  of  which  they  foon  die.    The  body  is  covered  with 
"  blotches  of  a  livid  colour,  and  the  corpfe,  in  a  few 
<c  hours,  turns  quite  livid  and  corrupted.     At  this  time 
Xfluxes  prevail,  which  may  be  called  bilious  or  putrid* 
"  the  better  to  diftinguifh  them  from  others  which  are 
"  accompanied  with  inflammation  of  the  bowels.     The 
"  ifland  of  Bombay  has  of  late  been  rendered  much  more 
*c  healthy  than  it  formerly  was,  by  a  wall  built  to  prevent 
<c  the  encroachments  of  the  fea,  where  it  formed  a  fait 
*<  marfh  ;  and  by  an  order  that  none  of  the  natives  mould 
"  manure  their   cocoa-trees  with  putrid  fifh. 

"  Batavia,  the  capital  of  the  Dutch  Eaft  India  do- 
*c  minions,  is  annually  fubje<fl  to  a  fatal  and  confuming 
"  ficknefs.  Here  the  Dutch,  in  attempting  to  make  this, 
•'*  their  capital  in  India,  referable  their  cities  in  Europe, 
"  have  adorned  it  with  canals  or  ditches,  interfering  each 

E  other, 


46 


s6  A    TREATISE    ON 

"  other,  running  through  every  part  of  it.  NotwithftancJ- 

"  ing  the  utmoft  care  to  keep  thefe  clean,  during  the 
:<  rainy  feafon,  and  after  it,  they  become  extremely  nox- 
"  ious  to  the  inhabitants,  but  efpecially  to  flrangers.  It 
"  has  been  remarked,  that  the  ficknefs  rages  with  the 
ce  greateft  violence  when  the  rains  have  abated,  and  the 
"  fun  has  evaporated  the  water  in  the  ditches,  fo  that  the 
"  mud  begins  to  appear.  This  happened  in  1764,  when 
"  fome  Britifh  fhips  of  war  had  oceafion  to  flay  for  a  little 
:<  time  at  Batavia.  The  flench  from  the  mud  was  into- 
"  lerable  ;  the  fever  was  of  the  remitting  kind  ;  fome  were 
"  fucHflenly  feized  with  a  delirium,  and  died  in  the  firft 
''  fit ;  but  none  furvived  the  attack  of  a  third.  Nor  was 
"  the  ficknefs  at  that  time  confined  to  the  fhips  ;  the 
"  whole  city  afforded  a  fcene  of  difeafe  and  death  ;  ftreets 
"covered  with  funerals,  bells  tolling  from  morning  to 
"  night,  and  horfes  jaded  with  dragging  the  dead  in  her- 
"  fes  to  their  graves.  At  that  time  a  flight  cut  of  the  fkin, 
"  the  leaft  fcratch  of  a  nail,  or  the  moft  inconfiderable 
"  wound,  turned  quickly  into  a  putrid,  fpreading  ulcer, 
"  which,  in  twenty-four  hours,  confumed  the  flem,  even 
"  to  the  bone.  Beiides  thefe  malignant  and  remitting  fe- 
"  vers,  which  rage  during  the  wet  feafon  in  the  unhealthy 
"  parts  of  the  Eaft  Indies,  Europeans,  efpecially  fuch  as 
"  live  intemperately^are  alfo  fubject  to  fluxes,  and  to  an 
"  inflammation,  or  difeafe  of  the  liver ;  which  lafl  is  almoft 
"  peculiar  to  India,  and  particularly  to  the  Coromandcl 
«  coaft." 

In  the  fame  work  we  have  an  extract  from  Mr.  Ives's 

ournal  of  a  journey  from  India  to  Europe   by    land. 

ic  Gambroon    in    Perfia,   fays  he,  is   very  unhealthful. 

i;  Few  Europeans  efcape  being  feized  with  putrid  inter- 

"  mitting  fevers,  which  rage  from  May  to  September, 

"  and  are  often  followed  with  obftructions  of  the  liv«r. 

<c  Various  authors  who  have  treated  of  Gambroon,  do, 

"  as  well  as  the  prefent  Englifh  factory,  impute  its  un- 

"  healthfulnefs,  during  the  fummer  months,  to  the  nox- 

c  ious  effluvia  with  which  the  air  is  contaminated,  from 

'  the  great  quantities  of  blubber  fiih  left  by  the  fea  up- 

€  on  the  fhore,  and  which  very  foon 'become  highly  of- 

4<  fenfive. 


THE   PLAdUE.  27 

**  fenfive.  In  the  rainy  feafons,  at  the  ifland  of  Karee, 
"  in  the  Perfian  Gulf,  intermitting  fevers  and  fluxes  are 
"  the  ufual  diftempers.  On  our  arrival  at  Bagdad  (fup- 
"  pofcd  to  contain  500,000  fouls)  we  found  a  purple 
"  fever  raging  in  the  city ;  but  though  it  was  computed 
"  that  an  eighth  part  of  the  inhabitants  were  ill,  yet  the 
"  diftemper  was  far  from  being  mortal.  Here  we  were 
cc  informed  that  the  Arabs  had  broken  down  the  banks 
"  of  the  river  near  BafTorah,  with  a  defign  to  cover  with 
"  water  the  deferts  in  its  neighbourhood.  This,  it  feems, 
"  is  the  ufual  method  of  revenge  taken  by  the  Arabs  for 
"  any  injury  done  them  by  the  Turks  at  Bafforah  ;  and 
"  was  reprefented  to  us  as  an  aft  of  the  moft  (hocking 
"  barbarity,  fince  a  general  confuming  ficknefs  would 
"  undoubtedly  be  the  confequence.  This  was  the  cafe 
"  fifteen  years  before,  when  the  Arabs,  by  demolifhing 
"  the  banks  of  this  river,  laid  the  environs  of  Bafforah 
"  under  water.  The  ftagnating  and  putrefying  water  in 
"  the  adjacent  country,  and  the  great  quantity  of  dead 
"  and  corrupted  fifh  at  that  time  lying  upon  the  fliore, 
"  polluted  the  whole  atmofphere^  and  produced  a  putrid 
"  and  moft  mortal  fever,  of  which  between  twelve  and 
"  fourteen  thoufand  of  the  inhabitants  perimed  ;  and,  at 
<c  the  fame  time,  not  above  two  or  three  of  the  Europeans 
"  who  were  fettled  there  efcaped.  The  effects  of  the 
"  violent  heats  we  endured  were,  an  entire  lofs  of  appe- 
"  tite,  a  faintnefs  and  gripes,  with  frequent  and  bilious 
"  ftools ;  which  greatly  exhaufted  our  ftrength.  My 
"  ftomach  was  often  fo  weak,  that  it  could  receive  only 
6C  a  little  milk.  Several  of  us  became  feverifh  through 
*'  the  exceflive  heat,  and  were  obliged  to  have  recourfe 
"  to  gentle  vomits,  &c.  Though  we  were  furnilhed 
*'  with  the  moft  ample  conveniences  for  travelling, 
Et  which  money,  or  the  ftrongeft  recommendations  to 
"  the  principal  chriftians,  as  well  as  mahometan  cheifs, 
"  could  procure,  and  had  laid  in  a  quantity  of  excellent 
"  madeira,  claret,  and  other  provisions,  &c.  yet  mod 
"  of  us  (offered  in  our  conftitutions  by  this  long  and  fa- 
"  tiguing  journey.'* 

On 


as  A    TREATISE    ON 

On  thefe  climates  in  general  Dr.  Lind  obferves,  that 
in  well  cultivated  countries,  fuch  as  China,  the  air  is 
temperate  and  wholefome;  while  the  woody  and  uncul- 
tivated parts  prove  fatal  to  multitudes  accuftomed  to 
breathe  a  purer  air.  In  all  places  alfo,  near  the  muddy 
and  impure  banks  of  rivers,  or  the  foul  mores  of  the  fea, 
mortal  difeafes  are  produced  from  the  exhalations,  efpe- 
cially  during  the  rainy  feafon.  "  There  is  a  place 
"  near  Indrapour,  in  Sumatra,  where  no  European  can 
"  venture  to  remain,  or  ileep  one  night  on  more,  during 
"  the  rainy  feafon,  without  running  the  hazard  of  his 
*c  life,  or  at  leaft  of  a  dangerous  fit  of  ficknefs  ;  and  at 
"  Podang,  a  Dutch  fettlement  on  Sumatra,  the  air  has 
<c  been  found  fo  bad,  that  it  is  commonly  called  the 
<c  Plague-Coaft.  Here  a  thick,  pefliiential  vapour  or  fog 
*c  arifes,  after  the  rains,  from  the  marfhes,  which  de- 
"  ftroys  all  the  white  inhabitants." 

In  treating  of  the  difeafes  of  Africa,  the  fame  author 
takes  notice  of  thofe  of  Egypt ;  which  country,  he  fays, 
is  rendered  unwholefome  by  the  annual  inundation  of 
the  Nile,  and  being  furrounded  on  three  fides  by  large 
and  extenfive  deferts  of  fand,  by  which  means  it  is  ex- 
pofed  to  the  effeds  of  that  noifome  vapour,  which,  dur- 
ing the  fummer  months,  arifes  from  fultry,  hot  fand. 
He  doth  not,  however,  fay,  that  the  true  plague  origi- 
nates in  this  country,  either  from  the  inundation  of  the 
Nile  or  any  other  caufe.  On  the  climate  of  Egypt 
I  (hall  once  more  quote  M.  Savary,  who  is  a  ftrenuous 
advocate  for  its  health  inefs,  and  is  at  pains  to  confute 
the  opinion  of  Mr.  Pauw,  and  others,  who  aiTert  the 
contrary.  "  Mr.  Pauw  (fays  he)  pretends,  that  at  pre- 
ic  fent  Egypt  is  become,  by  the  negligence  of  the  Turks 
"  and  Arabs,  the  cradle  of  the  peftilence ;  that  another 
k6  epidemical  difeafe,  equally  dreadful,  appears  here,  by 
:<  the  caravans  of  Nubia;  that  the  culture  of  rice  en- 
''genders  numerous  maladies ;  that  the  want  of  rain 
"  and  thunder  occafions  the  air  of  the  Thcbais  to  acquire 
:*  a  virulence  that  ferments  the  humours  of  the  human 
*  body,  &c."  "  Thefe  ailertions  (M.  Savary  obferves) 
"  have  an  air  of  probability,  which  might  impofe  on 

"  people 


THE   PLAGUE.  29 

"  people  who  have  not  lived  in  Egypt  ;  but  Mr.  Pauw 
"  has  ventured  opinions  in  his  clofet,  without  the  guid- 
"  ance  of  experience.  In  vallies,  indeed,  enclofed  by 
"  high  mountains,  where  the  atmofphere  is  not  conti* 
"  nually  renewed  by  a  current  of  air,  the  culture  of  rice 
"  is  unwholefome,  but  not  fo,  near  Damietta  and  Ro- 
"  fetta.  The  plains  are  nearly  on  a  level  with  the  fea  ; 
"  neither  hill  nor  height  impedes  the  refrefhing  breath  of 
"  the  north,  which  drives  the  clouds  and  exhalations  off 
"  the  flooded  fields  fouthwards,  continually  purifies  the 
"  atmoiphere,  and  preferves  the  health  of  the  people  ; 
"  fo  that  the  hufbandmen  who  cultivate  the  rice  are  not 
"  more  fubjecl:  to  difeafes  than  thofe.who  do  not.  The 
"  heats  of  the  Thebais  certainly  furpafs  thofe  of  many 
"  countries  under  the  equator.  Reamur's  thermometer, 
**  when  the  burning  breath  of  the  fouth  is  felt,  fome- 
<e  times  rifes  to  thirty-eight  degrees  above  the  freezing 
"  point,*  often  to  thirty-fix.  Were  heat  the  principle 
"  of  difeafes,  the  Said  (Upper  Egypt)  would  not  be  habi- 
At  table  ;  but  it  only  feems  to  occafion  a  burning  fever, 
"  to  which  the  inhabitants  are  fubjecl: ;  and  which  they 
"  cure  by  regimen,  drinking  much  water,  and  bathing 
"  in  the  river :  in  other  reipedls  they  are  ftrong  and 
"  healthy.  Old  men  are  numerous,  and  many  ride  on 
"  horfeback  at  eighty.  The  food  they  eat  in  the  hot 
"  feafon  contributes  much  to  the  prefervation  of  their 
"  health  ;  it  is  chiefly  vegetables,  pulfe  and  milk.  In 
"  Lower  Egypt,  the  neighbourhood  of  the  fea,  the  large 
"  lakes,  and  the  abundance  of  the  waters,  moderate  the 
"  fun's  heat,  and  preferve  a  delightful  temperature. 
"  Strabo  and  Diodorus  Siculus,  who  long  lived  here9 
"  did  not  think  the  country  unhealthy.  There  is,  in- 
*e  deed,  an  unwholefome  feafon  in  Egypt.  From  Febru- 
"  ary  till  the  end  of  May,  the  fouth  winds  blow  at  in» 
"  tervals,  and  load  the  atmofphere  with  a  fubtile  duft, 
"  which  makes  breathing  difficult,  and  drive  before 
<c  them  pernicious  exhalations.  Sometimes  the  heat 
"  becomes  infupportable,  and  the  thermometer  fudden- 
**  ly  rifes  twelve  degrees.  The  inhabitants  call  this  fea- 

"fon 

*  Water  boils  at  eighty  degrees  of  this  thermometer. 


3o  A   TREATISE   ON 

"  Ton  Khamfw,  fifty  ;  becaufe  thefe  winds  are  moft  felt 
"  between  Eafter  and  Whitfuntide ;  during  which  fea- 
"  fan  they  eat  rice,  vegetables,  frefh  fifh  and  fruit ; 
"  bathing  frequently,  and  ufing  plenty  of  perfumes  and 
"  lemon  juice  ;  with  which  regimen  they  prevent  the 
"  dangerous  effects  of  the  Khamfin.  But  it  muft  not 
"  be  fuppofed  that  this  wind,  which  corrupts  meat  in  a 
"  few  hours,  blows  fifty  days.  Egypt  would  become  a 
"  defert.  It  feldom  blows  three  days  together  ;  and 
"  fometimes  is  only  an  impetuous  whirlwind,  which  ra- 
"  pidlypaffes,  and  injures  only  the  traveller  overtaken  in 
"  the  deferts.  When  at  Alexandria  a  tempeft  of  this 
"  kind  fuddenly  arofe,  driving  before  ittorreqts  of  burn- 
"  ing  fand,  the  ferenity  of  the  iky  difappeared,  a  thick 
"  veil  obfcured  the  heavens,  and  the  fun  became  blood- 
"  coloured.  The  duft  penetrated  even  the  chambers,  and 
"  burnt  the  face  and  eyes.  In  four  hours  the  tempeft 
"  ceafed,  and  the  clearnefs  of  the  day  appeared.  Some 
"  wretches  in  the  deferts  were  fuffocated,  and  feveral 
f<  I  faw  brought  to  appearance  dead  ;  fome  of  whom, 
"  by  bathing  in  cold  water,  were  reflored  to  life." 

The  internal  parts  of  the  continent  of  Africa  are  but 
little  known.  The  northern  parts,  containing  the  States 
of  Barbary,  are  fufficiently  healthy  ;  the  middle  parts 
of  the  weftern  coaft,  known  by  the  names  of  Negro- 
land,  Guinea,  &c.  are  extremely  unhealthy  and  perni- 
cious to  frrangers.  Dr.  Lincl  informs  us,  that,  at  a 
Pittance,  this  country  appears  in  moft  places  fiat,  cover- 
ed with  low,  fufpended  clouds;  and  on  a  nearer  approach 
heavy  dews  fall  in  the  night  time ;  the  land  being 
every  morning  and  evening  wrapped  up  in  a  fog.  The 
ground  is  clothed  with  a  pleafant  and  perpetual  ver- 
dure, but  altogether  uncultivated,  excepting  a  few 
{pots,  which  are  generally  furrounded  with  forefts  or 
thickets  of  trees,  impenetrable  to  refreshing  breezes, 
and  fit  only  for  the  refort  of  wild  beafts.  The  banks 
of  the  rivers  and  rivulets  are  overgrown  with  bumes 
and  weeds,  continually  covered  with  flime,  which  lends 
forth  an  intolerable  fteach.  All  places  however  are 
iiot  equally  unhealthy  ;  nor  is  any  place  equally  un- 

wholefome 


THE    PLAGUE,  31 

wholefoml5*at  all  times  of  the  year.  It  is  only  with  the 
lainy  feafon  that  the  ficknefs  commences.  But  as  it 
would  be  tedious,  and  not  anfwer  our  prefent  purpofe, 
to  enumerate  thofe  places  which  are  healthy,  and  thofe 
which  are  not,  I  (hall  only  extract  from  Dr.  Lind's 
work  an  account  of  one  which  feems  to  be  as  bad  as 
can  well  be  imagined.  It  is  called  Catchou,  a  town  be- 
longing to  the  Portuguefe,  and  lituated  in  12  degrees 
N.  lat.  "  I  believe  (fays  the  author  of  this^account) 
"  there  is  fcarce  to  be  found  on  the  whole  face  of  the 
"  earth  a  more  unhealthy  country  than  this  during  the 
"  rainy  feafon.  We  were  thirty  miles  diftant  from  the 
:(  fea,  in  a  country  altogether  uncultivated,  overflowed 
"  with  water,  furrounded  with  thick,  impenetrable 
"  woods,  and  overrun  with  Ilime.  The  air  was  vitiated, 
"  noifome  and  thick,  infomuch  that  the  lighted  torches 
'c  or  candles  burnt  dim,  and  feemed  ready  to  be  extin- 
u  guifhed  ;  even  the  human  voice  loft  its  natural  tone. 
44  The  fmell  of  the  ground,  and  of  the  houfes,  was  raw 
"  and  offenfive  ;  but  the  vapour  arifing  from  the  putrid 
IC  water  in  the  ditches  was  much  worfe.  .  All  this,  how- 
"  ever,  feemed  tolerable,  in  refpect  of  the  infinite  num- 
*'  bers  of  infects  fwarming  every  where,  both  on  the 
"  ground  and  in  the  air  j  which,  as  they  feemed  to  be 
:c  produced  and  cherilhed  by  the  putrefaction  of  the  at- 
u  mofphere,  fo  they  contributed  greatly  to  increafe  its 
"  impurity.  The  wild  bees  from  the  woods,  together 
"  with  millions  of  ants,  overran  and  deftroyed  the  furni- 
"  ture )  while  fwarms  of  cock-roaches  often  darkened 
"  the  air,  and  extinguiihed  even  the  candles  in  their 
;<  flight  ;  but  the  greateft  plague  was  the  mufquetoes 
t£  and  fand-flies,  whofe  inceiTant  buzz  and  painful  flings 
"  were  more  infupportable  than  any  fymptom  of  the  fe- 
<c  ver.  Befides  all  thefe,  an  incredible  number  of  frogs, 
"  on  the  banks  of  the  river,  made  fuch  a  conftant  and 
14  difagreeable  croaking,  that  nothing  but  being  accuf- 
£  tomed  to  fuch  an  hideous  noife,  could  permit  the  en- 
"  joy  ment  of  natural  fleep.  In  the  beginning  of  Octo- 
'c  ber,  as  the  rains  abated,  the  weather  became  very  hot, 
"  the  woods  were  covered  with  abundance  of  dead  frogs, 

"and 


3z  A   TREATISE    ON 

"  and  other  vermin,  left  by  the  recefs  of  the  river  ;  all 
"  the  mangroves  and  fhrubs  were  likewife  overfpread 
"  with  {linking  flime." 

No  doubt  thefe  accounts  are  calculated  to  infpire  us 
with  dreadful  ideas  of  the  countries  mentioned  in  them. 
What  could  be  done  by  the  putrefaction  of  dead  ani- 
mals and  vegetables,  certainly  would  be  done  here ;  the 
produce,  however,  was  not  the  true  plague  ;  not  even 
in  Catchou  -y  but  "  a  ficknefs  which  could  not  well  be 
"  characterifed  by  any  denomination  commonly  applied 
"  to  fevers ;  it  however  approached  neareft  to  what  is 
"  called  a  nervous  fever,  as  the  pulfe  was  always  low,  and 
"  the  brain  and  nerves  principally  affected,"  8cc.  Cer- 
tainly if  in  any  country  heat,  moifture  and  putrefaction 
could  produce  a  plague,  it  would  be  in  this*  Yet,  in  all 
the  places  we  have  mentioned,  whether  India,  Arabia, 
Egypt,  or  Guinea,  (and  we  might  go  through  the  whole 
world  in  the  fame  manner)  we  have  not  been  able  to 
find  either  moifl  heat  or  dry  heat,  even  when  aided  by 
putrefaction,  infects,  and  naftinefs  of  all  kinds  (not  juit- 
ly  chargeable  upon  any  climate  ,)  I  fay,  we  have  not 
found  the  united  powers  of  all  thefe  able  to  produce  a 
plague.  Nay,  it  is  even  doubtful  whether  climates  can 
produce  thofe  inferior  difeafes  above  mentioned.  Even  Dr* 
Lind,  who  appears  to  be  fo  willing  to  afcribe  every  thing 
to  climate,  feems  embarraffed  in  this  refpect.  "  There 
*c  are  many  difficulties  {fays  he)  which  occur  in  afiigning 
"  a  fatisfa&ory  reafon,  why  in  fome  countries,  as  in  thofe 
"  between  the  tropics,  heavy  and  continual  rains  fhould 
*'  produce  ficknefs  ;  while  in  other  places,  efpeciaily  in 
"  the  fouthern  parts  of  Europe,  a  want  of  rain  for  two  or 
"  three  months  in  fummer  brings  on  difeafes  almofl  fimi- 
"  lar.  Upon  this  occafion  (adds  the  Doctor)  I  cannot 
*'  help  obferving,  that  there  is  hardly  a  phyfical  caufc 
"  which  can  be  afligned  for  the  produce  of  any  difeafe, 
"  that  will  not  admit  of  fome  exceptions :  thus,  not  only 
"  the  woods  and  moraffes  in  Guinea  are  tolerably  heal- 
"  thy,  with  fome  exceptions,  in  the  dry  feafon  ;  but  a  few 
"  inftances  might  be  produced  of  towns  furrounded  with 
"  marines  and  a  foggy  air,  where  the  inhabitants  fufTer 

"no 


«e 


THE   PLAGUE.  33 

no  inconvenience  from  their  fituation,  even  during  the 
rainy  feafon.    Do  the  impetuous  torrents  of  water  pour- 
ed  from  the  clouds  during  the  rainy  feafons,  in  tropical 
countries,  contain  what  is  unfriendly  to  health  ?     Thus 
much  is  certain,  that  the  natives  of  fuch  countries,  efpe- 
cially  the  mulattoes,   avoid  being  expofed  to  thefe 
rains  as  much   as  poffible,  and  when  wet  with  them 
"  immediately  plunge  themfelves  into  fait  water,  if  near 
"  it.     They  generally  bathe  once   a  day,  but  never  in 
"  the   frefli   water  rivers,  when  overflown   with   rains, 
*'  preferring  at  fuch  times  the  water  of  fprings.     Is  the 
"  ficknefs  of  tbefe  feafons  to  be  afcribed  to  the   intenfe 
"  heat  of  the  then  almoft  vertical  fun  -,  which  frequent- 
"  ly,  for  an  hour  or  two  at  noon,  difpcls  the  clouds,  and 
r<  with  itsdircd  beams  inftantly  changes  the  refreshing 
"  coolnefs  of  the  air  into  a  heat  almoft  infupportable  ? 
"  Further  :  As  the  feafon  of  thofe  fudden  and  terrible 
tt  ftorms,  called  the  hurricanes,   in  the  Eaft  and  Weft 
c<  Indies,   and  tornadoes  on  the  coaft  of  Guinea,   partly 
**  coincides  with  that  of  the  rains,    do  thefe  dreadful 
"  tempefts  in  any  meafure  contribute   to  produce   the 
*6  prevailing  ficknefs   at   thofe  times  ?    It  was  retnark- 
'"  able  one  year  at  Serlegal,  that,  in  the  beginning  of  the 
[<  rainy  feafon,  in  the  'night  fucceeding  one  of  thefe  tor- 
r<  nadoes,  a  great  number  of  the  foldiers,  and  two  thirds 
"  of  the  Englifh  women,  were  taken   ill,  this  garrifon 
"  before  having  been  uncommonly  healthy. 

"  Laftly  :  Is  it  not  more  probable,  as  in  thofe 
rt  countries  the  earth  for  fix  or  eight  months  in  the 
•'  year  receives  no  moifture  from  the  heavens  but  what 
tc  falls  in  dews,  which  every  night  renew  the  Vegetation, 
rt  and  reinftate  the  delightful  verdure  of  the  grafs,  that 
'  the  furface  of  the  ground  in  many  places  becomes 
*  hard  and  incruftated  with  a  dry  fcurf,  which  pens  up 
!C  the  vapours  below,  until,  by  the  continuance  of  the 
"  rains  for  fome  time,  this  cruft  is  foftened,  and  the 
rs  vapours  fct  free  ?  That  thefe  dews  do  not  penetrate 
"  deep  into  the  furface  of  the  earth,  is  evident  from  the 
l<  conftant  drynefs  and  hardnefs  of  fuch  fpots  of  ground, 
"  in  thofe  countries,  as  are  not  covered  with  grafs  and 

F  "  other 


34 


A    TREATISE    ON 


"  other  vegetables.  Thus  the  large  rivers,  in  the  dry 
"  feafon,  being  confined  within  narrow  bounds,  leave  a 
"  great  part  of  their  channel  uncovered,  which,  having 
"  its  moifture  totally  exhaled,  becomes  a  hard,  dry  cruft  -9 
"  but,  no  fooner  the  rains  fall,  than,  by  degrees,  this 
"  long  parched  up  cruft  of  earth  and  clay  gradually 
"  foftens,  and  the  ground,  which  before  had  not  the 
"  leaft  fmell,  begins  to  emit  a  ftench,  which  in  four  or 
<c  five  weeks  becomes  exceeding  noifome  j  at  which  time 
"  the  feafon  of  ficknefs  commences.*' 

From  thefe  quotations  it  muft  certainly  appear,  that 
the  author  himfelf  is  diffatisfied  with  his  theory  ;  and 
that,  though  in  the  outfet  he  thought  heat  and  moif- 
ture, affifted  by  the  exhalations  from  putrid  animal  and 
vegetable  fubftances,  fufficient  to  produce  the  diforders 
of  which  he  treats,  yet,  on  a  more  minute  inveftigation, 
he  is  obliged  to  acknowledge,  that  fomething  inexpli- 
cable ftill  remains.  This  he  now  wifhes  to  folve  by  un- 
known properties  in  the  water,  by  confined  exhalations, 
&c.  But  as  the  coniideration  of  thefe  things  belongs 
properly  to  the  next  fection,  I  (hall  here  only  remark, 
that  there  hath  not  yet  been  given  any  fatisfaclory  ac- 
count of  the  origin  of  epidemic  difeafes  of  what  I  call 
the  inferior  kind,  much  lefs  of  the  true  plague,  which 
(lands  above  them  all,  as  I  have  already  faid,  like  the 
fcrpent  Python  above  other  ferpents. 

To  what  has  been  quoted  from  Dr.  Lind,  I  fhall  here 
fubjoin  the  teftimony  of  Dr.  Clark,  who  had  an  oppor- 
tunity of  obferving  the  epidemic  difeafes  which  raged  at 
Bengal  in  1768  and  1769.   Thefe  were,  "the  remittent 
;<  fever  and  dyfentery,   which   begin   in   Auguft,  and 
L<  continue  till  November.     During  the  beginning  of 
;c  the  epidemic,  the  fever  is  attended  with  extreme  ma- 
;  lignity  and  danger ;  frequently  carrying  off  the  patient 
'  in  twelve  hours  -,  and,  if  not  flopped,  generally  proves 
"  fatal  on  the  third  or  fourth  day.     In  Auguft  the  re- 
'£  miffions  are  very  imperceptible ;    in   October  they 
'  become  morediftinct ;  and,  as  the  cold  weather  comes 
"  on,  the  fever  becomes   a  regular  intermittent.     At 
"  that  time,  too,  the  putrid  dyfentery  begins  to  rage 

"  with 


THE    PLAGUE.  35 

"  with  the  fever.  Thefe  difeafes  were  very  fatal  to  ma- 
"  ny  Europeans,  particularly  new  comers,  in  1768..  But 
"  in  the  year  1770,  when  there  was  a  fcarcity  of  rice, 
"  it  was  computed,  that  about  eighty  thoufand  natives, 
"  and  one  thoufand  five  hundred  Europeans,  died  at 
"  Bengal.  The  ftreets  were  covered  with  funerals  ;  the 
"  river  floated  with  dead  carcafes ;  and  every  place  ex- 
"  hibited  the  moft  melancholy  fcenes  of  difeafe  and 
"  death.  During  the  fickly  feafons  at  Bengal,  the  un- 
"  certainty  of  life  is  fo  great,  that  it  frequently  happens 
"  that  one  may  leave  a  friend  at  night  in  perfect  health, 
**  who  (hall  not  furvive  next  day.  There  have  been 
"  feveral  inftances  of  perfons  who  have  returned  home 
"  in  a  ftate  of  perfect  health  from  performing  the  lad 
"  duties  to  a  deceafed  friend,  and  have  next  day  been 
"  numbered  with  the  dead.  But  the  cool,  agreeable 
"  feafon,  from  December  to  March,  is  productive  of  no 
"  prevailing  difeafes.  The  complaints  to  be  met  with 
e(  are  in  general  the  confequences,  or  remains,  of  the  dif- 
EC  eafes  of  the  former  period.  The  complaints  which 
c  the  Europeans  are  fubjecl  to  in  the  dry  months  are, 
"  the  cholera  and  diarrhoea.  Fluxes  and  fevers  are  then 
u  feldom  epidemic  ;  and,  when  they  do  happen,  are  not 
"  attended  with  much  danger. 

"  At  Batavia  the  rainy  (eafon  is  from  November  to 
"  May,  during  which  time  malignant,  remitting  and 
"  continued  fevers  and  the  dyfentery  rage  with  great  fa- 
"  tality.  Captain  Cook,  in  his  firft  voyage,  arrived 
'here  in  October  1779;  the  whole  crew,  excepting 
"  Tupia,  a  native  of  Otaheite,  being  in  the  mod  perfect 
"health.  But,  in  the  courfe  of  nine  days,  they  expe- 
"  rienced  the  fatal  effects  of  the  climate,  and  buried 
"  feven  people  at  Batavia.  On  the  3d  of  December, 
"  the  (hip  left  the  harbour.  At  that  time  the  number 
"  of  fick  amounted  to  forty  ;  and  the  reft  of  the  (hip's 
:c  company  were  in  a  very  feeble  condition.  When  the 
"  (hip  anchored  at  Prince's  Ifland,  in  the  Straits  of 
'  Sunda,  the  (icknefs  increafed,  and  they  buried  twenty- 
ic  three  perfons  more  in  the  courfe  of  about  fix  weeks. 
"  The  Grenville  Indiaman,  which  touched  at  thisifland 


36  A    TREATISE    ON 

"  in  1771,  fuffered  equally  from  the  malignity  of  the 
"  air.  A  few  were  taken  on  board,  when  the  (hip  failed 
"  from  Batavia,  ill  of  a  malignant  fever  j  which  fpread 
"  by  contagion  at  fea,  and  carried  off  great  numbers. 
"  I  vifited  feveral  in  this  (hip,  when  fhe  arrived  at  Chi- 
"  na,  who  were  reduced  to  mere  fkeletons,  by  the  du- 
"  ration  of  the  fever  and  dyfentery  ;  both  of  which  were 
"  rnoft  certainly  propagated  by  contagion, 

"  Thofe  parts  of  Sumatra  lying  immediately  under 
"  the  line  are  continually  fubjedt  to  rain,  and  the 
"  ground  near  the  fhore  is  low,  and  covered  with  thick 
<£  trees  and  underwood.  The  heat  being  intenfe,  noi- 
"  fome  fogs  arife,  which  corrupt  the  air,  and  render  the 
"  country  fatal  to  foreigners.  The  land  of  North 
<c  Ifland,  which  lies  on  this  coaft,  near  the  beginning  of 
"  the  Straits  of  Sunda,  appears  at  a  difbnce  finely  vari- 
"  egated  ;  but  at  the  place  where  the  wood  and  water 
"  are  to  begot  it  is  low,  and  covered  with  impenetrable 
"  mangroves,  and  infefted  with  a  variety  of  infects.  It 
"  is  here  that  moil  of  the  Eaft  India  (hips  take  in  wood 
"  for  their  homeward  voyage.  A  Danifh  fhip,  in  1768, 
"  anchored  in  this  ifland,  and  fent  twelve  of  her  hands 
;c  on  (liore  to  fill  water ;  where  they  only  remained  two 
"  nights.  Every  one  of  them  was  feized  with  a  fever, 
"  whereof  none  recovered  :  but  although  the  (hip  went 
"  out  to  fea,  none,  except  the  twelve  who  went  on 
"  more,  were  attacked  with  the  complaint." 

With  regard  to  China,  this  author  fays,  that  the 
<c  port  of  Canton  is  by  no  means  fo  healthy  as  is  gene- 
:<  rally  feprefcnted.  The  comparative  degree  of  health 
"  which  Europeans  enjoy  here  has  been  afcertained  from 
"  the  inftances  of  the  fupercargoes,  which  is,  however, 
"  a  very  erroneous  flandard.  The  generous  and  regular 
•'  way  in  which  thefe  gentlemen  live,  for  the  moil  part, 
:i  exempts  them  from  difeafes  ;  and,  being  but  few  in 
rc  number,  no  great  mortality  can  take  place  among 
"  them.  But  feamen,  who  never  obferve  much  regula- 
:c  rity  in  their  way  of  living,  who  work  hard  in  the 
"  day  time,  are  but  badly  clothed,  and  not  provided 
**  again  ft  the  damps  and  cold  north-eailerly  winds  at 

«  night, 


THE   PLAGUE,  37 

ft  night,  feldom  fail  to  be  affii&ed  with  the  difeafes  al- 
"  ready  mentioned  (fevers  and  fluxes.)  Even  the  fac- 
u  tors  of  different  nations,  who  refide  here  for  any  con- 
fcC  fiderable  time,  experience  all  the  inconveniences  pe- 
"  culiar  to  any  fultry  climate  :  florid  health  is  a  ftranger 
"  to  their  countenances ;  their  conftitutions  are  foon 
<;  weakened  and  enfeebled  ;  and  they  become  fubject  to 
"  habitual  fluxes  and  other  complaints,  the  ufual  con^ 
<;  fequences  of  too  great  relaxation." 

The  climate  of  the  fouthern  part  of  China,  according 
to  the  fame  author,  is  exceflively  hot  during  the  fum- 
mer  months.  Even  in  September  and  October,  when 
the  nights  are  cold,  the  days  continue  to  be  fultry. 
The  cold  months  are,  December,  January  and  February  ; 
ic  and  during  this  time  the  viciffitudes  of  the  weather 
"  are  more  quick  than  in  any  other  part  of  the  world. 
"  When  the  wind  is  northerly,  and  the  thermometer  at 
ic  46,  upon  a  change  of  the  wind  to  the  fouth,  it  is  next 
"  day  up  to  60  or  70.  People  who  refide  here  are  al- 
"  ways  at  a  lofs  with  regard  to  their  clothing  ;  one  day 
"  finding  a  filk  coat  fufficient ;  and  the  next,  upon  a 
*'  fudden  change  of  wind,  finding  it  neceflary  to  wear  a 
"  flannel  waiftcoat." 

On  the  fubjecl:  of  climate,  therefore,  I  muft  conclude 
with  the  following  obfervations : — Firft  :  That,  as  the 
difeafes  above  mentioned  are  produced  both  in  moift 
and  dry  countries,  in  thofe  in  the  torrid  and  thofe  in 
the  temperate  zone,  they  can  neither  be  the  offspring 
cfmoiftureor  drought,  of  heat  or  cold,  of  feptics  or 
antifeptics,  but  of  fomething  not  yet  difcovered.  Se- 
cond :  That,  upon  fair  inveftigation,  it  does  not  appear, 
that  ancient  hiftorians  have  been  able  toafcertain  the  "ori- 
gin of  any  plague  whatever  :  they  have  univerfally  af- 
cribed  it, to  the  anger  of  the  Deity,  while  their  own  pride 
would  never  allow  it  to  have  originated  in  any  country 
with  which  they  were  connefted.  Third  :  It  doth  not 
by  any  means  appear,  that  the  climates  of  thofe  coun- 
tries, where  the  plague  is  known  to  bemoft  common,  are 
at  all  inferior  to  thofe  already  defcribed,  excepting  the  ve- 
ry circumfbnce  of  haying  the  plague  frequently  in  them  : 

nay, 


38  A    TREATISE    ON 

nay,  in3eed,  that  they  are  equally  bad.     Nobody  will 
pretend  to  argue,  that  the  climate  of  Afia  Minor,  of 
Greece,  of  the  Morea,  or  of  any  of  the  countries  mo'ft 
infefted  with  the  plague,  was,  or  is,  worfe  than  that  of 
Catchou  in  Afriea,  already  defcribed  ;  yet  it  is  certain, 
that  we  have  a  number  of  teftimonies  that  the  plague 
has  ravaged  Afia  Minor,  while  we  have  not  one  of  its 
vifiting  Catchou.     Ancient  Greece,   the    Peloponnefus 
(Morea)  and  Afia  Minor,  were  accounted  healthy  and 
fine  countries ;    and  modern  travellers  aflure  us,  that 
they  have   not   degenerated  in  this  refpect ;  yet  thefc 
countries  are  defolated  by  the  plague,  while  the   un- 
wholefome   regions    above   defcribed   are   entirely  free 
from  it,  unlefs  imported  from  fome  other  quarter.     To 
give  this  matter,  however,  as  fair  a  difcuffion  as  poffible, 
I  ihall  here  confider  the  account  we  have  of  the  climate 
of  BafTorah,  given  by  the  gentleman   refiding  there  in 
1780  ;  whofe  cafe,  in  the  remitting  fever,  is  given,  Ap- 
pendix, No.  VI.     "  The  overflowing  of  the  Euphrates, 
"  and  its  waters  flagnating  in  the  defert,  have  always 
"  been  accounted  primary  caufes  of  epidemical  difeafes 
"  at  BafTorah.     The  great  floods  from   the  melting  of 
"  the  fnow  on  the  mountains  of  Diarbekir,  the  ancient 
"  AfTyria,  happened  in  the   year    1780,  early   in  the 
"  month  of  May,  when  the  heats  in  Perfia  and  Arabia 
"  begin  to  be  exceflive.     The  defert,  which  reaches  to 
"  the  gates  of  Bafibrah,  is,  for  many  miles,  incrufted 
"  with  a  furface  of  fait ;  which,  when  mixed  with  the 
"  ftagnated  waters,  and  expofed  to  the  fun,  produces 
c<  the  moft  noxious  effluvia.     As  early  as  the   25th  of 
c  May,  the  town  was  furroundecl  by  a  fait  marfh,  the 
[<  heated  fleam  ariiing  from  which  was,  at  times,  almoft 
:<  intolerable  ;  but  the  canal  that  runs  through  a  great 
[C  part  of  the  city  being  filled  with  the    bodies  of  ani- 
"  mals,  and  all  kinds   of  putrid  matter;  and,  at  low 
"  tides,  all  thefe  fubflances  expofed  to  the  fun,  made 
54  the  air  in  the  town   fcarce  fupportable ;  and,  being 
"  totally  deftitute  of  police,  the  ftreets  were  in  many 
"  places   covered  with    human    ordure,  the  bodies  of 
"  dead  dogs  and  cats,  &c.  which  emitted  a  flench  more 

"  difagreeable 


THE   PLAGUE.  39 


(C 


difagreeable  and  putrid  than  any  thing  I  ever  experi- 
"  enced  in  my  life.  As  to  the  degree  of  folar  heat,  it 
"  far  exceeded  what  I  conceived  the  human  frame  to  be 
*c  capable  of  bearing.  The  fenfation  under  this  heat 
"  was  totally  different  from  what  I  had  ever  experien^ 
"  ccd  ;  it  refembled  the  approach  of  an  heated  fubftance 
"  to  the  body.  The  quickfilver,  in  Fahrenheit's  ther- 
<c  mometer>  rofe  to  between  156  and  162  degrees.* 
"  From  the  3©th  of  May  I  never  faw  it  fo  low  as  156, 
**  but  generally  between  158  and  160.  After  I  left 
"  Bafforah  I  was  told  that  it  rofe  ftill  higher.  In  the 
"  cooleft  part  of  the  houfe,  with  the  aid  of  every  inven- 
"  tion  to  decreafe  the  heat,  the  quickfilver  rofe  to  115; 
"  but  after  I  came  away,  I  was  informed  that  it  rofe 
"  ftill  higher,  even  at  feven  in  the  morning,  the  hour 
"  which  we  accounted  the  cooleft  in  the  day.  Once 
<c  the  heat  was  faid  to  be  fo  intolerable,  that  no  one 
"  could  expofe  himfelf  to  it  long  enough  to  obferve  the 
<c  thermometer  in  the  fun.  Some  of  the  oldeft  inhabi- 
<c  tants  of  Bafforah  faid  that  they  never  remembered  to 
"  have  heard  of  fuch  a  heat  in  any  part  of  Perfia  or 
"  Arabia.  The  natives  of  the  country  appeared  more 
c<  alarmed  at  the  heat  than  the  Europeans :  nothing 
"  could  induce  them  to  expofe  themfelves  to  the  fun 
"  after  ten  o'clock.  I  left  Bafforah  for  Aleppo  on  the 
<c  3bth  of  May.  On  our  arrival  at  Zabira,  the  heat  was 
<£  fo  intenfe,  that  even  the  Arabs  funk  under  it." 

From  this  account  it  was  natural  to  expect  that  vio- 
lent ficknefs  would  enfue.  This  was  the  opinion  of  the 
inhabitants,  and  they  were  not  deceived*  The  ficknefs, 
however,  was  not  the  true  plague,  but  a  violent  remit- 
ting fever ;  and  even  this  did  not  originate  in  the  city 
itfelf,  but  was  obferved  to  approach  from  Afia  Minor, 
ravaging  Diarbekir,  and  keeping  the  courfe  of  the  Ti- 
gris, to  Bagdad,  where  many  died.  From  thence  it 
followed  the  courfe  of  the  Euphrates  to  Bafforah,  and 
for  about  twenty  miles  lower.  The  oppofite,  or  Per- 
fcan  fhore,  though  within  a  few  miles,  was  exempted, 

and 

*  Spirit  of  wine  boils  at  175, 


4o  A   TREATISE    ON 

and  it  did  not  fpread  more  than  twenty  miles  into  the 
defert.* 

I  might  now  proceed  to  give  an  abftrad  of  what  has 
been  faid  of  the  power  of  climate  in  producing  difeafes 
on  the  Weftern  Continent,  and  Weft  India  iflands;  but 
as  this  belongs  more  efpecially  to  the  iecond  part  of  this 
Treatife,  I  fhall  here  pafs  it  over,  as  well  as  what  Dr. 
Smith  has  faid  of  the  climate  of  Greece,  in  the  Medical 
Repofitory,  and  which  he  endeavours  to  prove  to  be  limi- 
lar  to  the  climate  of  North  America.  But,  before  we 
proceed  to  confider  what  difeafes  may  be  produced  by 
climate  alone,  it  is  proper  to  difcufs  the  queftion,  how 
far  man  is  naturally  fubject  to  difeafes  of  any  kind  ? 
Many,  no  doubt,  will  be  apt  to  fuppofe  this  a  very  ab- 
furd  queftion;  for  as  man  is  now,  by  nature,  fubjecl:  to 
death,  it  feems  to  follow,  that  he  is  alfo  naturally  fubjecl: 
to  difeafe,  as  the  means  of  bringing  on  death.  But, 
however  plaufible  this  may  appear,  experience  (hows, 
that  difeafe  and  death  are  not  always  connected.  Ma- 
ny people  die  of  mere  old  age ;  the  powers  of  life  being 
exhaufted,  and  the  fyftem  fo  far  decayed,  that  the  va- 
rious parts  of  it  can  no  longer  perform  their  offices.  On 
the  other  hand,  a  difeafe  deftroys  by  attacking  fome 
particular  organ,  and  either  totally  confuming  or  alter- 
ing it  in  fuch  a  manner,  that  itdifturbs  the  vital  opera- 
tions, while  yet  ftrong  and  vigorous.  We  may  there- 
fore compare  the  death  of  a  perfon  from  mere  old  age  to 
the  natural  extinction  of  a  candle  when  the  tallow  is 
totally  confumed  ;  and  death  from  difecife,  to  the  blow- 
ing out  of  a  candle  while  a  part  of  it  remains,  and  might 
have  burned  for  a  confiderably  longer  time.  Thus  I 
am  inclined  to  confider  all  difeafes  as  merely  accidental  ;• 
and  this  with  the  greater  certainty,  becaufe,  though,  in 
common  with  other  believers  in  revealed  religion,  [ 
think  that  death  is  the  confequence  of  Adam's  tranf- 
greflion,  yet  I  do  not  find  that  difeafe  of  any  kind  was 
threatened  except  in  cafes  of  pofttive  tranfgreiTion,  long 
after  the  days  of  Adam. 

Every 

*  Tranfa&ions  of  Society  for  improving  Medical  Knowledge, 


THE   PLAGUE,  41 

Every  one  allows,  that,  though  fome  difeafes  are  na- 
tural, fome  are  likewife  artificial  $  but  nobody  hath  at- 
tempted to  draw  the  line  of  demarcation  between  them. 
Every  thing  is   charged  upon  climate,  heat,  moifture, 
drought,  vapour,  &c.  and  yet,  upon  examination,  we 
fhall  find  the  utmoft  difficulty  in  deriving  a  fingle  difeafc 
from  the  caufes  we  affign.     No  perfon  in  his  fenfes  will 
fay  that  Adam,  in  confequence  of  eating  the  forbidden 
fruit,  became  liable  to  the  venereal  difeafe.     As  little 
can  we  fay  for  the  gout,  the  ftone,  or  the  dropfy  5  and 
if  we  cannot  particularize  the  difeafes  to  which  he  be- 
came naturally  liable,  we  have  no  right  to  fay  that  any 
kind  of  difeafe  became  natural  to  him  in  confequence 
of  his   tranfgreflion.      If,  therefore,   death  itfelf,   ori- 
ginally  not   natural  to  man^  did   yet   take  place  in 
confequence  of  his  moral   conduct ;   and  if  difeafes, 
without    number,    have  arifen   among    his   pofterity, 
though  not  natural  to  him  in  confequence  of  his  firft 
tranfgreffion,  we  have  equal  feafon  to  believe  that  thefc 
difeafes  have  taken  place  among  them  in  confequence 
of  their  moral  or  rather  immoral  conduct,  in  totally  de- 
viating from  the  line  prefcribed  them  by  their  Maker* 
and  following  others  of  their  own  invention  ;  and  this 
will  appear  the  more  probable,  when  we  confider,  that, 
long  after  mankind  became  fubject  to  death,  we  find 
difeafes,  particularly  the  peftilence,  threatened  as  the 
confequence  of  fubfequent  tranfgreffions. 

If*  without  taking  fcripture  into  confideration,  we 
attend  only  to  what  may  be  gathered  from  profane  hif- 
tory,  we  find  the  teftimony  of  all  the  ancients  concurring 
in  one  general  point,  viz.  that  in  times  of  great  antiquity 
men  were  more  healthy,  and  even  ftronger,  than  in  the 
times  when  thofe  authors  lived.  This  is  taken  notice 
of  by  Homer,  when  comparing  the  ftrength  of  men  in 
the  time  of  the  Trojan  war  with  thofe  in  his  days,  about 
two  centuries  later.*  Virgil,  who  lived  in  much  more 

modern 

Vf  A  pond'rous  ftone  bold  He£lor  heav'd  to  throw* 
Pointed  above,  and  rough  and  grofs  below ; 
Not  two  ftrong  men  th'  enormous  weight  could  raife» 
Such  men  as  live  ia  thefe  degenerate  days. 

Iliad,  B,  xii. 

G 


42  A   TREATISE   ON 

modern  times  than  Homer,  carries  his  ideas  of  the  dege- 
neracy of  man  much  farther  ;  and  informs  usy  that  Tur- 
nus,  when  fighting  with  ^Eneas,  took  up  and  threw  a 
.{lone  which  twelve  men  of  that  time  could  not  have 
lifted.  Now,  though  we  know  that  both  thefe  accounts 
are  fabulous,  yet  they  perfectly  coincide  with  the  voice 
of  hiftorians  of  all  nations ;  for  we  are  univerfally  told, 
that  the  firft  inhabitants  of  countries  were  a  brave, 
hardy  people,  living  according  to  the  fimplicity  of  na- 
ture, free  from  difeafes,  and  attaining  to  a  good  old  age. 
This  is  fo  conformable  to  what  is  generally  faid  at 
prefent,  probably  very  often  by  rote,  without  regard  to 
rational  evidence,  that,  were  we  fo  inclined,  ample  room 
might  be  found  for  declamation  againft  modern  luxu- 
ries, particularly  the  practice  of  drinking  ardent  fpirits, 
as  pernicious  to  health,  and  deftructive  to  the  humaa 
body.  On  this  fubject,  however,  we  may  once  for 
all  obferve,  that,  although  we  find  ample  evidence  c-f 
the  baleful  influence  of  thefe  liquors  in  producing 
other  difeafes,  yet  we  find  none  of  their  ever  having 
had  any  (hare  in  the  production  of  an  epidemic  or  ge- 
neral diteafe  among  mankind.  In  ancient  times  ths 
art  of  diftillation  feems  to  have  been  unknown  ;  fo  that 
whatever  mifchief  was  done  in  thofe  days  mud  have 
been  done  by  wine,  or  other  fermented  liquors.  In 
modern  times,  though  the  ufe  both  of  fermented  liquors 
and  ardent  fpirits  is  undoubtedly  carried  to  excefs,  yet 
there  is  no  evidence  of  their  producing  an  epidemic,  or 
even  making  it  more  violent  or  general  than  it  would 
otherwife  have  been.  Dr.  Cleghorn,  having  fpoken 
largely  of  the  manner  of  living  of  the  natives  in  Mi- 
norca, proceeds  thus  :  "  I  fhould  nex-t  give  a  circum- 
<s  ftantial  account  of  the  diet  and  way  of  life  of  the 
46  Britifh  foldiers  in  this  ifland  ;  but  as  this  would  be  a 
;c  difagreeable  ta/k,  I  fhall  only  oblerve,  that  the  excefs 
"  of  drinking  is  among  them  an  univerfal  vice,  con- 
"  firmed  into  habit.  But,  however  different  the  Spa- 
"  niards  be  from  the  Englilh,  in  their  meat,  drink,  exer- 
<c  cife,  affections  of  the  mind,  and  habit  of  body  j  yet 
"  the  health  of  both  nations  is  equally  influenced  by 

«  the 


THE   PLAGUE.  43 

*'  the  feafons.  An  epidemical  diftemper  feldom  or 
"  never  attacks  the  one  clafs  of  inhabitants  without 
"  attacking  the  other  alfo  ;  and,  furprifing  as  it  may 
"  appear,  it  is  neverthelefs  true,  that  the  peafants, 
"  remarkable  for  temperance  and  regularity,  and  the 
"  foldiers,  who,  without  meat  and  clothes,  frequently 
<e  lie  abroad  drunk,  expofed  to  all  weathers,  have  dif- 
"  eafes  almoft  fimilar,  both  as  to  their  violence  and 
"  duration." 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  excefs  in  drinking  hath 
put  an  end  to  the  lives  of  many  individuals  ;  and  it  hath 
been  obferved,  that  fuch  as  attempt  to  preferve  them- 
felves  from  the  plague  by  the  ufe  of  ftrong  liquors,  have 
generally  fallen  facrifices  to  it  ;*  but  this  cannot  prove 
that  fuch  excefs  would  have  brought  on  the  diftemper 
without  fome  other  caufe.  It  hath  been  certainly 
found,  that  excefs  in  drinking  or  eating,  excefs  in  ve- 
nery,  exceflive  fatigue  by  labour,  watching,  ffcudy,  &c. 
will  all  make  an  epidemic  difeafe  more  violent  when  it 
attacks  a  particular  perfon  ;  but  no  experience  hath  yet 
fiiown  that  the  firft  perfon  feized  with  an  epidemic 
always  fell  under  this  defcription.  All  that  can  be  faid 
on  the  fubjecl  is,  that,  by  fuch  exceffes  as  have  already 
been  deforibed,  the  body  is  prepared  for  receiving  the 
difeafe,  by  an  exhauftion,  or  evaporation  (if  we  pleafe  to 
call  it  fo)  of  the  vital  principle  ;  as  wood  is  prepared  for 
burning  by  the  evaporation  of  its  moifture  -y  but  as 
wood,  however  dry,  will  not  burn  without  the  contact 
or  application  of  fire,  fo  neither  will  the  body,  though 
ever  fo  well  prepared,  be  attacked  by  any  epidemic, 
unlefs  the  true  caufe  of  that  epidemic  be  alfo  applied. 

Thus  we  are  ftill  difappointed  in  our  attempts  to 
difcover  the  origin  of  the  plague.  We  have  feen  that 
the  moft  unhealthy  climates  in  the  world  do  not  pro- 
duce it  of  themfelves ;  neither  can  the  conduct  of  any 
individual  bring  it  upon  himfelf,  without  an  unknown 
fomethingi  which  nobody  has  yet  found  out.  It  was 
this  difficulty  of  finding  out  the  natural  caufe,  which 
certainly  induced  by  far  the  greateft  number  of  writers 

on 

*  Sec  Sec.  IV,  Preventives  of  the  Plague, 


44  A    TREATISE    Otf 

on  the  fubject  to  afcribe  it  to  Divine  Power  -,  and  even 
as  late  a  writer  as  Dr.  Hodges  tells  us,  that  he  believes 
in  the  to  Theion,  the  "finger  of  God,"  in  the  plague, 
as  much  as  any  body.  As  for  thofe  who  have  endea-* 
youred  to  account  for  the  origin  of  this  diftemper  from 
an  inquiry  into  natural  caufes,  and  conclufions  drawn 
from  the  late  experiments  on  air,  they  have  totally  failed  j 
as  will  be  fully  elucidated  in  the  following  fec~tion. 

If  then  we  are  to  believe  that  difeafes,  efpecially  thofe 
called  epidemics,  among  which  the  plague  holds  the 
firft  place,  have  arifen  in  confequence  of  a  certain  line 
of  conduct  adopted  by  the  human  race,  or  have  been 
inflicted  by  the  Deity  as  punimments  on  that  account, 
we  are  to  look  for  their  origin  among  thofe  to  whom  the 
Deity  principally  manifefted  himfelf ;  that  is,  the  Jews, 
and  nations  who  interfered  with  them.  Among  the 
Jews  we  hear  of  the  firft  general  plague  diftinctly  men- 
tioned ;  viz.  the  three  days  peftilence  of  David,  and  to 
which  it  is  poflible  that  Homer  alludes  in  his  Iliad. 
Next  to  this  is  the  great  plague  of  767  B.  C.  faid  to 
have  fpread  all  over  the  world.  This  coincides  with  the 
time  of  Pu),  king  of  Affyria ;  who,  having  overthrown 
the  ancient  kingdom  of  Syria,  turned  his  arms  againft 
that  of  Jfrael5  and  no  doubt  extended  his  conquefts 
among  the  eaftern  nations,  as  we  know  very  well  the 
Affyrian  monarchs  did.  As  the  ten  tribes,  ever  after 
their  feparation  from  the  houfe  of  David ,  had  in  a  man- 
ner totally  given  themfelves  up  to  idolatry,  we  are  not 
to  wonder  if  the  peftilence,  fo  frequently  threatened  by 
Mofes,  was  very  common,  or,  as  phyficians  term  it,  en- 
demic, among  them.  Thus,  whatever  enemy  invaded 
the  country,  would  almoft  certainly  carry  the  difeafe 
along  with  them,  and  fpread  it  among  the  other  nations 
with  whom  they  afterwards  had  any  connexion.  At 
this  time,  or  even  before  this,  during  the  wars  of  Syria 
with  Ifrael  and  Judah,  thi$  dreadful  peftilence  might 
begin ;  but,  as  to  its  being  all  over  the  world  in  any 
particular  year,  I  do  not  fee  how  it  can  be  afcertained  ; 
becaute  there  are  no  general  hiftories  of  the  world  iri 
thofe  early  times.  It  appears  more  probable  that  this 

general 


THE   PLAGUE.  45 

general  peftilence  took  place  at  the  time  that  Sennache- 
rib's army  was  deftroyed.  I  have  no  doubt,  indeed, 
for  the  reafons  already  given,  that  the  plague  had  in- 
fe&ed  Sennacherib's  army  before  he  went  into  Ethiopia. 
In  that  country,  in  all  probability,  he  would  leave  it ; 
and,  after  his  return  to  Judea,  when  the  dreadful  ca- 
taftrophe  befel  him  of  an  hundred  and  eighty-five  thou- 
fand  of  his  men  being  deftroyed  in  one  night,  there  can 
be  no  doubt  that  the  remains  of  his  army  would  carry 
with  them  the  feeds  of  a  moft  malignant  peftilence, 
capable  of  fpreading  definition  far  and  wide.  It  is  true, 
we  are  not  dire&ly  told,  in  Scripture,  that  the  AfTyrian 
army  was  deftoyed  by  a  plague,  but  that  the  angel  of 
the  Lord  deftroyed  them$  but,  as  this  exprefllon  is 
quite  fimilar  to  what  we  read  of  the  peftilence  in  Da- 
vid's time,  there  can  be  but  little  doubt  that  the  means 
of  deftru&ion  made  ufe  of  in  both  cafes  were  the  fame. 
Jofephus  exprefsly  fays,  that  Sennacherib;s  army  was 
deftroyed  by  a  peftilence.  Neither  are  we  to  conclude, 
becaufe  this  peftilence  was  miraculous,  that  it  therefore 
certainly  killed  every  one  on  whom  it  fell  $  or  that  ijt 
would  not  infeft  thofe  who  came  near  the  lick,  as  any 
other  difeafe  of  the  kind  would  do. 

From  the  fame  fource  may  we  derive  the  propenfity 
in  the  Carthaginian  armies  to  peftilential  diforders0 
Carthage  was  a  colony  of  Tyre  ;  and  the  Tyrians  were 
in  clofe  alliance  with  the  Jews,  during  the  reigns  of 
David  and  Solomon,  and  very  probably  afterwards ;  fp 
that  from  them  the  diftemper  might  be  communicate4 
in  fuch  a  manner  as  to  be  almoft  endemic  ;  and  thus 
hardly  an  army  could  be  fent  out  but  what  would  have 
the  infection  with  it,  breaking  out  with  violence  now 
and  then,  as  occafional  caufes  tended  to  give  life  to  the 
contagion.  It  is  impoffible,  however,  from  the  fource 
juft  mentioned  to  trace  the  plague  of  Athens,  or  the 
firft  plague  in  Rome  j  but  it  is  very  natural  to  fuppofe 
that  the  violent  one  which  raged  in  Rome,  during  the 
reign  of  Titus,  came  from  Jerufalem.  That  city  had 
fuftained  a  moft  dreadful  fiege,  and  the  obftinate  and 
wretched  inhabitants  had  endured  fuch  calamities  a? 

have 


46  A  TREATISE  ON 

have  fcarcely  been  recorded  in  the  hiftory  of  nations. 
Among  thefe  calamities  was  a  peftilence,  which,  in  all 
probability,  would  be  conveyed  to  Rome,  and  there 
occaiion  the  deftruction  already  mentioned. 

But  what  feems  to  render  this  account  of  the  origin  of 
the  plague  more  probable  is,  that  the  Jews  are  to  this  day 
accufed  of  propagating  the  difeafe  in  thofe  countries  where 
it  is  moil  frequent.    Baron  de  Tott  is  of  opinion  that  the 
plague  in  Conftantinople  originates  among  the  Jewifh 
dealers  in  old  clothes ;  for  thefe  avaricious  dealers,  pur- 
chaling  the  infected  goods,  fell  them  indifcriminately  to 
every  one  who  will  buy,  and  that  without  the  leaft  care  ta- 
ken to  remove  the  infection  from  them  ;  by  which  means 
k  is  no  wonder  to  find  the  plague,  as  well  as  other  difeafes, 
diffeminated  among  them  in  great  plenty.     Dr.  Ruflel 
informs  us,  that  the  jews  are  moft  liable  to  the  plague, 
the  moft  fearful  of  it,  and  the  moft  ready  to  fly  from 
the  infection.     The  Abbe  Mariti  agrees  in  the  fame 
accufation    againft    this   unfortunate    people.      "  The 
"  Jews  (fays  he)  purchafe  at  a  low  price  the  goods  and 
"  wares  which  remain  when  moft  of  the  family  are  de- 
<e  ceafed,  and  then  (lore  them  up;    which,  when  the 
<c  plague  is  over,  they  fell  at  a  dear  rate  to  thofe  will 
"  buy,  and  thus  propagate  the  peftilential  poifon  :  again 
"  it   kindles,    and   prefently    caufes    new    deftruction. 
"  Thus  this  opprobrious  nation,  preferring  gold  to  life, 
'*  fell  the  plague  to  muffulmen,  who  purchafe  it  with' 
*f  out  fear,  and  ileep  with  it,  till,  renewed  of  itfelf,  it 
"  hurries  them  to  the  grave."     M.  Volney,  though  he 
does  not  mention  the  Jews    in  fuch   exprefs   terms  as 
Mariti  and  RuiTel,  yet  agrees  as  to  the  mode  of  its  pro- 
pagation in  Conftantinople,  and  the  reafon  of  its  conti- 
nuance in  that  city.     "  It  is  certain  (fays  he)   that  the 
"  plague  originates  in  Conftantinople,  where  it  is  per- 
"  petuated    by   the   abfurd   negligence   of  the  Turks, 
<f  which  is  fo  great,  that  they  publicly  fell  the  effects  of 
t(  perfons  dead  of  the  diftemper.     The  (hips  which  go 
"  to  Alexandria   never  fail  to   carry  furs   and  woolen 
"  clothes,  purchafed  on  thefe  occalions,  which  they  ex- 
*'f  pofe  to  fale  in  the  bazar  of  the  city,  and  thereby  fpread 

"  the 


THE   PLAGUE.  47 

**  the  contagion.     The  Greeks  who  deal  in  thefe  goods 
"  are  almoft  always  the  firft  vi&ims." 

Thus  the  account  we  have  of  the  origin  of  the  plague 
at  prefent  is,  that  the  city  of  Gonftantinople,  having 
been  long  and  deeply  infe&ed,  the  infection  is  ftored  up 
through  the  avarice  of  the  Jewifh  merchants,  who  buy 
the  goods  and  clothes  of  the  infefted.  The  ftupidity 
of  the  Turks  allows  thefe  goods  to  be  fold  rn  Conftanti- 
nople, or  exported  freely  to  all  parts  to  which  their  vef- 
fels  fail,  particularly  to  Alexandria ;  where  the  avarice 
of  the  Greeks  prompts  them  to  buy  without  examination 
or  precaution,  to  the  deftrudion  of  their  own  lives,  and 
of  multitudes  of  others.  Egypt  being  the  principal  place 
of  traffick,  the  plague  is  more  frequent  there  than  in 
other  parts  of  the  empire.  Syria  is  comparatively  free 
from  it ;  which  M.  Volney  fuppofes  to  be  owing  to  the 
fmall  number  of  veflels  which  come  there  dire&ly  front 
Conftantinople. 

In  this  way  we  may,  in  a  pretty  plaufible  manner, 
account  for  the  origin  of  this  diftemper ;  viz,  that  it 
originally  fell  upon  the  Jews  as  a  punifhment  for  their 
iniquities ;  that  from  the  Jews  it  has  been  at  different 
times  conveyed  to  other  nations  ;  and,  by  a  mixture  of 
thofe  nations,  has,  at  times,  become  general  all  over  the 
world.  At  laft  it  has,  by  the  avarice  of  that  people  who 
firft  had  been  the  occafion  of  its  being  introduced  into 
the  world,  become  permanent  in  Conftantinople,  whence 
it  is  ft  ill  diifufed  among  different  nations  in  proportion 
to  their  dealings  with  that  capital. 

But  it  may  now  be  faid,  'Allowing  the  pofitions 
contended  for  to  be  true  in  their  utmoft  extent,  how 
comes  it  to  pafs  that  the  plague  hath  not  been  general 
in  every  age  and  in  every  country  ?  Since  the  deftruc- 
tion  of  Jerufalem,  the  Jews  have  been  difperfed  over  all 
nations  :  if  nothing  then  were  wanting  to  produce  a 
peftilence  but  Jews  and  old  clothes,  no  age  or  country 
ought  to  have  been  free  from  it ;  neverthelefs  it  is  cer- 
tain that  violent  plagues  take  place  only  at  particular 
times,  with  long  intervals  between  ;  and  of  late  the  pef- 
tticntial  difpofition  feems  to  have  become  much  lefs 

frequent 


48  A  ^TREATISE   ON 

frequent  than  formerly ;  the  weftern  parts  of  Europe* 
particularly  Britain,  having  been  free  from  it  for  a  great 
number  of  years.  There  muft  therefore  be  fome  caufe, 
different  from  what  has  yet  been  mentioned,  by  which 
the  infection  is  occafionally  roufed  from  inactivity,  and 
excited  to  fpread  defolation  all  around.' 

That  there  are  predifpofing  caufes  to  epidemic  dif- 
orders,  efpecially  to  the  plague,  the  moft  fatal  of  them 
all,  is  not  denied.  Thefe  prepare  the  body  for  receiving 
the  infection,  but  they  will  not,  without  that  infection; 
produce  the  diforder.  Of  thefe  caufes  fo  many  are  to 
be  found  in  the  conduct  of  mankind  themfelves,  that 
we  fcarcely  need  to  look  fgr  them  any  where  elfe.  In 
looking  over  the  hiftories  of  plagues,  we  find  them  in 
an  efpecial  manner  connected  with  famines  and  wars. 
The  former  fometimes  take  place  in  conference  of  the 
failure  of  crops  through  natural  caufes  ;  but,  confidering 
the  general  fertility  of  the  earth,  we  mufl  certainly  ac- 
count it  owing  to  bad  management,  in  fome  refpedt  or 
other,  that  every  country  hath  not  as  much  laid  up 
within  itfelf  as  would  guard  againft  the  confequcnces  of 
at  leaft  one  or  two  bad  crops.  Yet  we  believe  there  is 
not,  at  prefent,  a  country  upon  earth  in  this  predica- 
ment. If  a  crop  fails  any  where^  the  inhabitants  muft 
import  largely,  or  they  muft  ftarve.  This  is  the  cafe 
even  in  the  fertile  regions  of  the  Eaft,  where  the  earth 
produces  in  exceffive  abundance,*  and  there  is  little  or 
nothing  of  any  kind  of  provifion  exported  to  other 
countries.  A  remarkable  inftance  of  this  occurred  in 
the  plague  at  Aleppo,  a  hiftory  of  which  is  given  by  Dr. 
Ruflel.  He  tells  us,  that  the  winter  of  1756  proved 
exceffively  cold,  which  was  followed  by  a  famine  next 
year.  This  account  is  confirmed  by  Mr.  Davves,  in  a 
letter  to  the  bifhop  of  Carlifle.*f  He  tells  us,  that  in 
the  courfe  of  the  winter  many  perifhed  through  cold ; 
that  the  inhabitants  were  reduced  to  fuch  extremities, 
by  the  fingle  failure  of  the  crop  in  1757,  that  women 

were 

*  Herodotus  fays,  that  in  his  time  the  province  of  Babylonia  prod£«ejj 
commonly  two  hundred*  and  in  plentiful  years  three  hundred  fold. 

f  Phiiof.  Tranfaft.  vol.  liv. 


THE    PLAGUE.  49 

known  to  eat  their  own  children  as  foon  as  they 
expired  in  their  arms  with  huoger  ;  and  that  human 
creatures  might  be  feen  contending  with  dogs,  and 
fcratching  for  the  fame  bone  with  them  in  a  dunghill. 
A  dreadful  plague  followed  ;  which,  the  two  fucceeding 
years,  fwept  off  not  fewer  than  fixty  thoufand  in  the 
city  of  Aleppo. 

It  is  probable  that  in  this  cafe  the  famine  either 
produced  the  plague,  or  made  it  worfe  than  it  would 
have  otherwife  been  ;  and  it  is  not  denied  that  the  cold 
and  bad  feafon  was  the  direct  caufe  of  the  famine.  But 
as  little  can  it  be  denied,  that  had  the  people,  or  their 

tovernors,  been  fo  provident  as  to  have  laid  up  ftores 
ifficient  to  fupply  the  country  for  one  year,  this  famine 
would  not  have  been  felt.  As  far,  therefore,  as  the 
plague  was  connected  with  the  famine,  we  muft  owa 
that  it  was  chargeable  on  the  human  race  themfelves  $ 
not  the  fins  of  this  or  that  particular  perfon,  but  a  ge- 
neral deviation  from  the  talk  affigned  them  by  their 
Maker,  viz.  that  of  cultivating  the  ground ;  and,  in- 
ftead  of  this,  fpending  their  time  in  folly  and  trifling, 
to  fay  no  worfe. 

But  famines  are  occafioned  not  only  by  natural  caufes, 
but  by  wars ;  in  which  mankind,  acting  in  direct  oppo- 
lition  to  the  laws  of  God  and  nature,  deftroy  and  lay 
wafte  the  earth,  taking  every  opportunity  of  reducing 
to  extremity  both  thofe  whom  they  call  innocent  and 
thofe  whom  they  call  guilty.  Thus  vaft  multitudes  are 
reduced  to  want,  to  defpair,  and  rendered  a  prey  to  grief, 
terror,  and  every  deprefling  paflion  of  the  human  mind  ; 
they  are  expofed  to  every  inclemency  of  the  weather  -9 
to  the  fcorching  heats  of  the  day,  and  the  chilling  damps 
of  the  night  j  in  ihort,  to  every  thing  that  we  can  con- 
ceive capable  of  predifpofing  the  body  for  the  reception 
of  difeaies  of  the  very  woril  kind.  No  wonder  therefore 
that  war  and  peftilence  go  hand  in  hand  ;  and,  by 
taking  a  review  of  the  hiftory  of  mankind,  we  fhall  fee, 
that,  always  at  thofe  times  when  the  nations  have  been 
moil  actively  employed  in  the  trade  of  butchering  one 
another,  then,  or  very  foon  after,  they  have  been  afflicted 

H  with 


50  A   ^REATISE   ON 

with  peftilence.  To  begin  with  the  great  plague  of  767 
B.  C.  which  coincides  with  the  rife  of  the  Aflyrian  em- 
pire :  Till  this  time,  though  there  had  been  numberlefs 
wars,  yet  they  were  carried  on  upon  a  much  fmaller 
fcale  than  now,  when  great  empires  were  to  be  fet  up, 
and  when  the  moft  diftant  nations  were  to  be  afiembled 
in  order  to  gratify  the  pride  and  ambition  of  an  individual. 
The  AfTyrians,  we  know,  penetrated  into  Ethiopia ;  but 
how  far  eaft  or  how  far  weft  they  went,  we  are  not  cer- 
tainly informed.  To  their  wars,  however,  we  may  with 
reafon  afcribe  the  defolations  occaiioned  by  this  firft 
plague.  From  Thucydides's  account  of  the  plague  at 
Athens,  it  feems  plain  that  it  was  occafioned7  or  at  leaft 
rendered  more  violent,  by  the  wars  of  the  Greeks  with 
one  another  at  that  time.  Had  the  Carthaginian  army 
ftaid  at  home  when  they  went  to  war  with  Dionyfius, 
tyrant  of  Syracufe,*  it  is  very  probable  that  the  pefti- 
lence would  not  have  broke  out  among  them.  The 
like  may  be  faid  of  the  plague  which  broke  out  among 
them  in  the  time  of  Marcellus.-f*  That  in  the  time  of  Ju- 
gurtha,  indeed,  is  faid  to  have  been  occafioned  by  locufts  $ 
but,  had  not  vaft  bodies  of  men  been  collected  together  for 
the  purpofes  of  war,  the  plague  could  never  have  com- 
mitted fuch  ravages.  The  plague  in  the  time  of  Titus 
could  not  have  been  brought  from  Jerufalem,  nor  per- 
haps would  it  have  exifted  there,  had  not  Titus  made 
war  againft  that  city ;  and  fo  of  others. 

The  plague  which  began  in  the  reign  of  Juftinian, 
as  it  was  more  violent  than  any  recorded  in  hiftory,  fo 
it  was  preceded  by  wars  equally  unexampled.  The 
Romans  had  indeed  for  ages  employed  themfelves  in 
war ;  but,  by  their  conftant  fuperiority  to  every  adver- 
fary,  their  empire  had  become  fo  amazingly  extenfive, 
that,  whatever  wars  were  carried  on  in  the  remote  pro- 
vinces, the  great  body  of  the  empire  always  remained 
at  peace  ;  and  this  was  the  cafe  even  in  their  moft  vio- 
lent civil  wars.  On  the  acceifion  of  Alexander  Severus? 
about  the  year  232,  they  began  to  encounter  enemies  fo 
numerous  and  formidable,  that  all  their  power  proved 
infufficient  to  repel  them.  In  the  tenth  year  of  Alex- 
ander's 

*  See  Sec,  i,  p,  IQ.  f  Ibid*  ]?•  * *• 


THE   PLAGUE.  51 

ander's  reign,  the  Perfians,  having  overthrown  the  an* 
cient  empire  of  the  Parthians,  turned  their  arms  againft 
the  Romans,  and,  though  frequently  defeated  at  that 
time  with  great  ilaughter,  renewed  their  incurfions  in 
the  reign  of  Gordian,  about  the  year  242,  when  they 
were  in  like  manner  defeated  and  obliged  to  retire.  As 
thefe  defeats,  however,  did  not  at  all  affect  the  ftrength 
of  the  Perfian  empire,  the  Romans  ftill  found  them  as 
formidable  enemies  as  ever ;  while  the  Goths,  Sarma*- 
tians,  Franks,  and  other  northern  nations,  harafled  them 
in  other  parts.  In  the  reign  of  Decius,  who  afcended 
the  throne  in  249,  they  became  extremely  formidable, 
infomuch  that  the  emperor  himfelf,  with  his  whole 
army,  was  at  laft  cut  off  by  them.  The  confequence  of  this 
was,  that  the  empire  was  inftantly  invaded  in  many 
different  parts,  and,  though  the  barbarians  were  at  times 
defeated,  we  never  find  that  the  empire  regained  its  for- 
mer tranquillity.  The  Perfians  and  Scythians,  taking 
advantage  of  the  general  confufion,  invaded  the  provin- 
ces next  them,  while  the  finifhing  ftroke  feerned  to  be 
given  to  the  Roman  affairs  by  the  defeat  and  captivity 
of  Valerian  by  the  Perfians. 

This  difafter,  as  may  well  be  imagined,  produced  an 
immediate  invafion  by  numberlefs  barbarians,  while 
fuch.  multitudes  of  pretenders  to  the  imperial  crown 
were  fet  up,  each  afferting  his  claim  by  force  of  arms, 
that  the  whole  Roman  territories  were  filled  with  blood- 
fhed  and  flaughter.  At  this  time  Gallienus,  the  fon  of 
Valerian,  was  the  law/id  emperor,  if  indeed  we  may  ap- 
ply the  word  to  the  domination  of  fuch  a  monfter.  His 
mode  of  government  may  be  imagined  from  the  follow- 
ing letter  written  to  one  of  his  officers  in  confequence 
of  a  victory  gained  over  an  ufurper  named  Ingenuus, 
"  I  fhall  not  be  fatisfied  with  your  putting  to  death  only 
"  fuch  as  have  borne  arms  againft  me,  and  might 
**  have  fallen  in  the  field  :  you  muft  in  every  city  deftroy 
c<  all  the  males,  old  and  young ;  fpare  none  who  have 
^  wifhed  ill  to  me,  none  who  have  fpoken  ill  of  me,  the 
f(  fon  of  Valerian,  the  father  and  brother  of  princes. 
<£  Ingenuus  emperor !  Tear,  kill,  cut  in  pieces,  without 

"  mercy ; 


ii  A   TREATISE   ON 

"  mercy :  you  underftand  me ;  do  then  as  you  know 
"  I  would  do,  who  have  written  to  you  with  my  own 
"  hand."  In  confequence  of  this  horrible  order,  not 
a  fingle  male  child  was  left  alive  in  fome  of  the  cities 
of  Moefia,  where  this  inhuman  tragedy  was  adted. 

In  the  midft  of  this  dreadful  commotion,  we  find  the 
peftilence  contributing  its  (hare  to  the  common  work  of 
defolation.  In  Alexandria  in  Egypt,  fays  Dionyfius, 
bifhop  of  that  place,  "  fury  and  difcord  raged  to  fuch 
"  a  degree,  that  it  was  more  eafy  to  pafs  from  the  eaft 
"  to  the  remoteft  provinces  of  the  weft,  than  from  one 
*c  place  of  Alexandria  to  another.  The  inhabitants  had 
!<  no  intercourfe  but  by  letters,  which  were  with  the 
"  utmoft  difficulty  conveyed  from  one  friend  to  another. 
"  The  port  refembled  the  fhores  of  the  Red  Sea  ftrewed 
*'  with  the  carcafes  of  the  drowned  Egyptians :  the  fea 
"  was  dyed  with  blood,  and  the  Nile  choked  up  with 
"  dead  bodies.  The  war  was  attended  with  a  general 
*'  famine,  and  the  famine  with  a  dreadful  plague,  which 
"  daily  fwept  off  great  numbers  of  people,  infomuch 
"  that  there  were  then  in  Alexandria  fewer  inhabitants, 
"  from  the  age  of  fourteen  to  that  of  eighty,  than  there 
"  ufed  to  be  from  forty  to  feventy."  It  was  not  in 
Egypt  alone  that  this  calamity  prevailed.  It  raged  with 
great  violence  in  Greece,  and  at  Rome  itfelf ;  where, 
for  fome  time,  it  carried  off  five  thoufand  perfons  a  day. 
Many  terrible  phenomena  of  nature  took  place  at  the 
fame  time.  The  fun  was  overcaft  with  thick  clouds, 
and  great  darknefs  took  place  for  feveral  days,  attended 
with  a  violent  earthquake,  and  loud  claps  of  thunder, 
not  in  the  air,  but  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  which 
opened  in  feveral  places  and  fwallowed  up  great  num- 
bers of  people  in  their  habitations.  The  fea,  fwelling 
beyond  meafure,  broke  in  upon  the  continent,  and 
drowned  whole  cities.* 

At  laft  the  civil  commotions  were  fettled  by  the 
accefiion  of  Claudius  to  the  empire  in  268.  He  found 
the  Roman  force  fo  exhaufled,  that,  when  marching 
againft  the  Goths,  he  wrote  to  the  fenate  in  the  following 

terms  : 

*  Univ,  Hid,  vol.  xvi.  p  p.  4331  435. 


THE  PLAGUE.  $3 

terms :  "  If  I  fhould  not  be  attended  with  fuccefs,  you 
"  will  remember  that  I  fight  after  the  reign  of  Gallienus. 
"  The  whole  empire  is  quite  fpent  and  exhaufted,  partly 
"  by  him,  and  partly  by  the  many  tyrants  who,  during 
"  his  reign,  ufurped  the  fovereignty,  and  laid  wafte  our 
*'  provinces.  We  want  even  fhields,  fwords  and  fpears.'* 
In  this  miferable  plight,  however,  he  gained  a  mod 
extraordinary  victory;  three  hundred  thoufand  of  the 
enemy  being  killed  or  taken.  But,  while  Claudius  thus 
carried  on  the  work  of  death  fuccefsfully  againft  the 
barbarians,  he  was  attacked  from  a  quarter  where  he 
could  make  no  refiftance  :  a  violent  plague  broke  out  in 
his  army,  and  carried  off  himfelf  and  a  vaft  number  of 
his  men. 

The  dreadful  defeat  given  to  the  Goths  did  not  long 
preferve  the  tranquillity  of  the  empire.  New  invafions 
took  place,  and  new  maffacres  enfued.  At  laft,  on  the 
acceffion  of  Dioclefian  to  the  empire,  it  was  thought 
proper,  on  account  of  the  prefent  emergences,  to  divide 
fuch  wide-extended  territories  into  four  parts,  to  be 
governed  by  four  emperors  of  equal  authority.  By  the 
activity  and  valour  of  thefe,  particularly  of  one  of  them, 
named  Galerius,  the  northern  barbarians  were  reprefled, 
and  the  Perfians  reduced  fo  low,  that  they  were  obliged 
to  yield  up  a  great  part  of  their  territories ;  and  it  is  faid 
that  their  country  might  even  have  been  reduced  to  a 
Roman  province,  had  the  emperor  fo  inclined.  We 
know  not  whether,  in  his  eaftern  expedition,  the  Roman 
army  received  any  infection,  nor  do  we  hear  of  any 
plague  breaking  out  in  it ;  but  we  are  told  that  Galerius 
himfelf  died  of  an  uncommon  diftemper ;  an  ulcer, 
attended  with  mortifications,  violent  pains,  and  the  pro- 
duction of  an  infinite  number  of  vermin,  which  devoured 
and  tormented  him  day  and  night.  This  diftemper, 
however,  feems  rather  to  have  been  a  cancer  than  a 
peftilential  diforder,  as  he  laboured  under  it  for  more 
than  a  year.  After  his  death,  dreadful  wars  continued, 
both  by  reafon  of  the  incurfions  of  barbarians,  and  the 
contefts  of  thofe  who  enjoyed,  or  wifhed  to  enjoy,  the 
empire.  The  eaftern  parts,  however,  had  for  fome 

time 


54  A    TREATISE    ON 

time  kept  free  from  peftilential  contagion  ;  of  which  the 
chriftian  writers  fay,  that  Maximin,  who  reigned  there, 
had  made  his  boaft ;  and,  being  a  heathen,  afcribed  it 
to  the  care  he  took  of  preferving  the  worfhip  of  the 
gods.     But,  if  this  was  really  the  cafe,  he  foon  found 
his  gods  unable  to  protect  him ;  for,  foon  after  the  ac- 
ceflion   of  Conftantine  the  great,   and   his  embracing 
chriftianity,  the  dominions  of  Maximin  were  affli&ed 
with  famine  accompanied  with  peftilence,  and  that  at- 
tended  by  fymptoms  of  a  moil  extraordinary  nature  ; 
particularly  ulcers  about  the  eyes,  which  rendered  mul- 
titudes of  thofe  who  were  infected  with  the  diftemper 
totally  blind.    The  chriftians  did  not  fail  to  afcribe  this 
plague  to  the  fins  of  Maximin  ;  but  it  muft  be  obferved, 
that  to  his  other  fins  he  had  added  that  of  involving 
himfelf  in  a  violent  war,  during  which  the  peftilence 
broke  out,  and  which  probably  was  one  of  the  caufes  of 
it*     We  may  likewife  obferve,  that  if  the  fins  of  Max* 
imin  brought  on  the  plague,  the  piety  of  Conftantine 
could  not  keep  it  off;  fince  we  find  that  in  the  year 
332,  a  confiderable  time  after  the  death  of  Maximin, 
the  territories  of  Conftantine  were  ravaged  by  a  dreadful 
plague,  and  the  famine  was  fo  fevere,  that,  at  Antioch, 
wheat   was  fold   at  four  hundred  pieces  of  filver  per 
bufhel.     The  diftemper  which  put  an  end  to  the  life. 
of  Maximin  himfelf  was  indeed  fo  extraordinary,  that 
we  may  reafonably  excufe  thofe  who  called  it  a  judg- 
ment fent  directly  from  heaven.     His  eyes  and  tongue 
are  faid  to  have  putrefied  ;  "  an  invifible  fire  was  kindled 
"  in  his  bowels,  which,  being  attended  with  unrelenting 
"  torments,  reduced  him   in  a  few  days  to   a  perfect 
"  ikeleton ;   his  whole  body  was  covered  over  with  a 
"  kind  of  leprofy,  and  devoured  by  fwarms  of  vermin  : 
"  he  could  not  be  prevailed  upon  to  take  any  nourifh- 
"  ment,  but  greedily  fwallowed  handfuls  of  earth,  as  if 
is  he  had  hoped  by  that  means  to  afluage  his  pains,  and 
"  allay  the  hunger  with  which  he  was  tormented  with* 
"  out  intermiffion,"*     All  this,  we  are  told,  was  the 
effect  of  poifon,   which  he  had  fwallowed  in  defpair, 

after 

*  Univ.  Hift,  vol.  xvJ» 


THE    PLAGUE.  55 

after  being  defeated  in  battle  $    but  the  fymptoms  are 
Unaccountable. 

After  the  death  of  Conftantine,  the  empire  being 
again  parted,  civil  diffenfions  took  place  $  the  northern 
barbarians  and  Perfians  renewed  their  incurfions,  and  at 
length  the  battle  of  Murfa,  between  the  emperor 
Conftantius  and  an  ufurper  named  Magnentius, 
deftroyed  fuch  numbers  that  the  empire  no  more 
recovered  its  former  ftrength.  From  this  time  therefore 
the  wars  with  the  barbarians  became  more  and  more 
violent;  and,  though  frequently  overcome,  the  advantage 
was  ultimately  on  their  fide.  In  361,  the  firft  year  of 
the  emperor  Julian,  the  peftilence  again  made  its  appear- 
ance. It  was  accompanied  by  many  other  grievous  ca- 
lamities :  Dreadful  earthquakes  were  felt  in  every 
province  j  moft  of  the  cities  in  Paleftine,  Libya,  Sicily 
and  Greece,  were  overturned.  Libanius  writes,  that 
not  one  city  in  Libya  was  left  {landing,  and  but  one  in 
Greece ;  that  Nice  was  utterly  ruined,  and  Conftanti- 
nople  greatly  damaged.  The  fea,  in  feveral  places,  broke 
in  upon  the  land,  and  deftroyed  whole  cities  with  their 
inhabitants.  At  Alexandria,  the  fea,  retiring  during  an 
earthquake,  returned  again  with  fuch  violence,  that  it 
drowned  feveral  towns  and  villages  in  the  neighbour- 
hood. The  earthquakes  were  followed  by  a  famine, 
and  the  famine  by  a  peftilence.  It  was  obferved  by  the 
chriftian  writers,  that  the  famine  feemed  to  follow  Ju- 
lian from  place  to  place  :  and  no  wonder  that  it  did  fo  ; 
for  he  not  only  had  always  a  large  army  along  with  him, 
which  confumed  great  quantities  of  provifion,  but,  at- 
tempting to  remedy  the  evil  by  fixing  the  prices  of  pro- 
vifions,  he  rendered  it  much  worfe,  as  the  dealers  in 
corn  were  thereby  tempted  to  convey  it  to  other  places,* 
Indeed  this  emperor  feems  to  have  been  inclined  to  pro- 
duce famines  wherever  he  went ;  for,  on  his  entering  the 
territories  of  the  Perfians,  with  whom  he  was  at  war,  he 
wafted  the  country  to  fuch  a  degree,  that  he  could  neither 
fubfift  nor  return  ;  while  the  enemy,  imitating  his  exam- 
ple, deftroyed  all  before  him.  The  confequence  was, 

-    that, 

*  Uniy,  Hifl,  vol.  XVi, 


56  A   TREATISE    ON 

that,  by  the  time  Julian  was  killed,  the  famine  raged  iit 
the  Roman  camp  to  fuch  a  degree,  that  not  a  fingle  per- 
fon  could  have  efcaped,  had  not  the  enemy  mercifully 
granted  them  peace. 

Notwithflanding  this  difmal  fituation,  we  hear  of  no 
plague  invading  the  camp  of  the  Romans  at  that  time. 
The  wars,  however,  continued  with  great  violence  $  and, 
in  the  time  of  Valentinian,  Valens  and  Gratian,  became 
worfe  than  ever.  The  dreadful  ftate  of  the  empire  in 
the  time  of  Gratian  is  thus  defcribed  by  St.  Jerom  : 
"  The  whole  country,  from  Conftantinople  to  the  Julian 
"  Alps,  has  been  fwimming  thefe  twenty  years  in  Roman 
"  blood.  Scythia,  Thrace,  Macedon,  Dardania,  Dacia, 
"  Theffaly,  Achaia,  both  Epirufes,  Dalmatia,  both  Pan- 
"  nonias,  are  filled  with  Goths,  Sarmatians,  Quadians, 
"  Alans,  Huns,  Vandals,  Marcomans,  &c.  whofe  avarice 
"  nothing  has  efcaped,  whofe  cruelty  has  been  felt  by 
<c  perfons  of  all  ranks,  ages  and  conditions."  "  What 
"  evils,  (fays  Gregory  Nazianzen)  have  we  not  feen  or 
"  heard  of  !  Whole  countries  have  been  destroyed  with 
"  fire  and  fword  ;  many  thoufand  perfons  of  all  ranks 
"  and  ages  have  been  inhumanly  maflacred  ;  the  rivers 
"  are  ftill  dyed  with  blood,  and  the  ground  covered  with 
"  heaps  of  dead  bodies/' 

In  the  midft  of  fo  great  calamities,  the  peftilence,  as 
an  evil  of  inferior  nature,  might  in  many  cafes  pafs  un- 
noticed by  the  hiftorians  of  the  times ;  neverthelefs,  even 
during  that  diftracted  period,  we  find  fome  accounts  of 
it.  In  384  we  are  told  of  a  famine  and  plague  at  An* 
tioch  ;  and,  in  407,  of  one  in  Paleftine,  faid  to  be  occa- 
iioned  by  multitudes  of  grafshoppers,  which  even  ob~ 
fcured  the  fun,  and  turned  day  into  night.  After  hav- 
ing done  incredible  mifchief,  they  were  thrown  by  the 
wind  partly  into  the  Red  Sea,  and  partly  into  the  Medi- 
terranean ;  whence  being  again  caft  afhore  by  the  wavcs> 
they  putrefied,  and  occalioned  a  peftilence.  Two  yeats 
after,  when  Rome  had  been  firft  belieged  by  Alaric  the 
Goth,  the  city  was  reduced  to  fuch  ftralts,  that  human 
flefh  was  publicly  fold,  and  fome  mothers  are  faid  to 
have  devoured  their  children.  This  terrible  famine  was 

occafioned 


f HE   PLAGUE.  57 

©ccafioned  by  the  uncultivated  flate  of  the  country, 
which  had  lain  wafte  for  feveral  years,  by  reafon  of  the 
wars,  and  the  ports  of  Africa  being  blocked  up  by  He- 
raclianus  left  an  ufurper  fhould  become  emperor  ;  and 
thus  this  loyal  admiral,  for  fear  that  the  people  fhould 
have  a  bad  governor,  determined  rather  that  there 
ihould  be  no  people  to  be  governed.  Notwithftanding 
this  terrible  famine,  however,  we  hear  of  no  peftilential 
diforder  taking  place;  not  even  after  the  taking  of  the 
city  by  Alaric,  when  bloodfhed  and  maflacre  were  added 
to  the  other  calamities. 

All  this  time  the  empire,  by  the  incurfions  of  barba- 
rians, by  ufurpations,  civil  wars,  and  the  general  licen- 
tioufnefs  of  the  people,  had  been  in  a  fituation  not  to 
be  defcribed.    The  invafion  of  the  Hunns,  a  new  and 
more  formidable  enemy  than  they  had  ever  experienced, 
now  completed  the  ruin  of  the  Romans.     The  whole 
weftern  part  of  the  empire  became  one  continued  fcene 
of  carnage  and  defolation.     The  common  epithet  be'- 
flowed  upon  Attila,  the  king  of  thefe  barbarians,  was, 
"  The  Scourge  of  GOD,  the  Deftroyer  of  Armies"     As  a 
fpecimen  of  his  behaviour,  we  fhall  felect  the  account 
of  his  taking  of  Aquileia  in  452.     That  city,  "  being 
"  well  fortified,  and  defended  by  the  flower  of  the  Ro- 
"  man  troops,  held  out,  in  fpite  of  his  utmoft  efforts,  for 
"  three  months  ;  at  the  end  of  which  it  was  taken  by 
"  affault,  pillaged  for  feveral  days  together,  and  laid  in 
"  allies ;  not  a  fingle  houfe  being  left  flanding,  nor  one 
"  perfon  alive  that  fell  into  the  enemy's  hands.     The 
u  cities  of  Trevigio,  Verona,  Mantua,  Cremona,  Brefcid 
"  and  Bergamo,  underwent  the  fame  fate ;  the  barba- 
"  rians  raging  every  where  with  fuch  fury  as  can  hardly 
"  be  expreffed  or  conceived,    and  putting  all  to  the 
"  fword,  without  diftin&ion  of  fex,  age,  or  condition."* 
Every  one  muft  own  that  this  was  a  very  effectual 
method  of  preventing  the  plague  in  thofe  cities;     It  did 
not,  however,  prevent  that,  or  forne  other  difeafes,  from 
deftroying  fuch  numbers  of  the  tyrant's  troops,  that  he 
was  for  that  time  prevented  from  taking  Rome  itfelf* 

FVom 

*  Univ.  Hift.  vol.  xvi, 
I 


58  A    TREATISE    ON 

From  this  time,  to  the  total  extinction  of  the  weftern 
empire,  we  do  not  hear  of  any  remarkable  infection 
taking  place.  The  barbarians  Hill  continued  their  wars 
with  one  another,  while  the  emperors  of  Conflantinople 
were  likewife  at  continual  variance  with  the  Perfians. 
At  laft,  in  the  year  532,  they  concluded  what  they  called 
a  perpetual  or  eternal  peace,  which  lafted  eight  years  / 
Other  treaties  and  truces  were  concluded  ;  notwithftand- 
ing  which,  the  war  was  almofl  continual  in  the  eaft ; 
while,  by  the  fecond  conqueft  of  Italy,  and  the  invafion 
of  the  Gothic  territories,  new  defolations  overfpread  the 
weft.  Thus,  for  a  great  number  of  ages,  mankind  had 
been  preparing  themfelves  for  the  dreadful  peftilencc 
_ which  was  about  to  enfue.  Whatever  infection  could 
be  communicated  to  the  air  by  multitudes  of  carcafes 
rotting  above  ground  had  been  done  in  an  ample  man- 
ner. Whatever  debility  could  be  communicated  to  the 
human  frame  by  famine,  expofure  to  the  inclemency  of 
weather,  by  fatigue,  terror,  grief,  and  every  thing  that 
can  render  life  miferable,  had  alfo  been  communicated 
by  the  moft  powerful  means.  There  only  wanted  fome- 
thing  to  begin  the  calamity ;  and  this,  whatever  it  was, 
took  place  in  the  fifteenth  year  of  Juftinian.  Mr.  Gib- 
bon afcribes  the  origin  of  it  to  locufts ,  and  its  univer- 
fality,  to  the  general  mixture  of  all  nations,  and  the  un- 
rcftrained  interconrfe  they  had  with  one  another.  "  No 
*"  reftraints  (fays  he)  were  impoled  on  the  frequent  inter- 
"  courfe  of  the  Roman  provinces.  From  Perfia  to 
w  France  the  nations  were  mingled  by  wars  and  emigra- 
,;<c  tions  $  and  the  peftilential  odour,  which  lurks  for  years 
"  in  a  bale  of  cotton,  was  imported,  by  the  abufe  of 
"  trade,  into  the  moft  diftant  regions.  Procopius  relates, 
*c  that  it  fpread  always  from  the  fea-coaft  to  the  inland 
*'  countries :  the  moft  fequeftered  iflands  and  mountains 
"  were  fucceffively  vilited  -,  the  places  which  had  efcaped 
*'  the  fury  of  its  firft  paffage,  were  alone  expofed  to  the 
"  contagion  of  the  enfuing  year.  In  time,  its  malignity 
"  was  abated  and  difperfed  ;  the  difeafe  alternately  Ian- 
5C  guifhed  and  revived  ;  but  it  was  not  till  the  end  of  a 
"  ccikunitcus  period  of  fifty-two  years,  that  mankind  re- 
covered 


THE    PLAGUE.  5f 

Cl  covered  their  health,  or  the  air  refumed  its  pure  and 
44  falubrious  qualities." 

Thus  Mr.  Gibbon  endeavours  to  explain  the  caufes 
of  this  plague  from  an  alteration  in  the  falubrity  of  the 
atmofphere,  without  taking  into  confederation  the  dread- 
ful commotions  among  mankind,  above  related.  But, 
now  that  we  have  noticed  two  very  general  infections, 
one  in  767  B.  C.  the  other  1300  years  after,  we  find 
them  both  preceded  and  accompanied  by  wars  uncom- 
monly violent  and  deftructive.  The  great  plague  in  the 
time  of  Juftinian  is  faid  by  Mr.  Gibbon  to  have  con- 
tinued only  fifty-two  years ;  but  this  we  muft  under- 
ftand  of  its  firft  and  moft  violent  attack  ;  for  it  appears, 
from  the  teftimonies  produced  in  the  former  fedion, 
that  peftilential  diforders,  even  very  violent  ones,  con- 
tinued at  intervals  for  feveral  centuries.  Thus,  from 
the  year  541  to  593,  the  fpace  of  fifty-two  years  is  in- 
cluded -,  neverthelefs,  in  the  time  of  Phocas,  who  began 
to  reign  ten  years  after,  the  fame  calamity  continued  ; 
as  did  alfo  violent  wars  with  the  Perfians  and  other  bar- 
barians. 

The  year  622  is  remarkable  for  the  flight  of  Maho^ 
met  from  Mecca  to  Medina,  from  which  time  we  may 
date  the  rife  of  the  empire  of  the  Saracens ;  a  people 
who,  for  defolation  and  deftru&ion,  were  perhaps  never 
equalled  except  by  the  Hunns  and  Moguls.  In  630  the 
impoftor  himfelf  died,  after  having  juft  united  the  Arabs 
or  Saracens,  and  fitted  them  for  the  work  in  which  they 
were  to  be  employed.  Their  firft  exploit  was,  to  fall 
upon  the  empire  of  Perfia,  now  weakened  by  its  endlefs 
wars  with  the  Romans.  This  was  conquered  in  two 
years ;  after  which  they  broke  into  Paleftine,  and  con- 
quered the  provinces  bordering  upon  Syria.  In  634 
they  reduced  Syria  itfelf  and  Egypt.  In  636  they  took 
and  plundered  Jerufalem.  In  642  they  conquered  the 
African  provinces,  and  reduced  fome  of  the  iflands  in 
the  Levant.  With  unabated  fury  they  proceeded  to 
the  eaft  and  weft ;  laying  fiege,  in  668,  to  Conftantino- 
pie  itfelf,  where  they  received  their  firft  check  by  the 
fhipwreck  of  their  fleet,  and  the  defeat  of  their  army.- 

Thus, 


fo  A   TREATISE    ON 

Thus,  in  the  fpacc  of  38  years,  the  immenfe  trad  of 
country  from  the  eaflern  part  of  Perfia  to  the  confines 
of  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  with  the  northern  coafts  of 
Africa,  the  whole  including  a  fpace  fcarce  inferior  to  the 
empire  of  Alexander  the  Great,  was  reduced  under 
fubjection  to  a  race  of  favage  barbarians,  who  knew  on- 
ly how  to  plunder,  deftroy,  and  reduce  other  nations  to 
flavery, 

In  this  manner  Were  the  eaftern  parts  of  the  werld 
prepared  for  a  new  infection,  fuppofing  the  old  one  to 
have  been  entirely  gone  off.  The  Saracens  purfued 
their  good  fortune,  ravaged  and  conquered  from  India 
to  Spain,  and  from  Spain  were  proceeding  northward 
through  France,  to  extend  their  conquefts  to  the  other 
countries  of  Europe.  But  here,  in  728,  their  fury  was 
flopped  by  Charles  Martel,  the  father  of  Pepin,  and 
grandfather  of  Charles  the  Great.  After  a  moft  obfti- 
nate  and  bloody  battle,  which  lafled.feven  days,  and  in 
which  the  barbarians  loft  three  hundred  and  feventy-fivc 
thoufand  men,*  they  were  driven  beyond  the  Pyrennean 
mountains,  and  never  after  durft  enter  France.  Thus 
was  one  fury  flopped,  only  to  give  place  to  another. 
Charles,  as  ambitious  and  as  cruel  as  the  Saracens,  having 
in  vain  attempted  the  conqueft  of  Spain,  reduced  Italy 
and  Germany  ;  and,  having  dreadfully  maffacred  the 
Saxons,  and  almoft  exterminated  the  Hunns,  fet  up  the 
German  Empire,  and  was  crowned  emperor  of  the 
Weft  in  8oq, 

While  the  nations  were  thus  deluging  the  earth  with 
blood,  the  peftilence  made  its  appearance  in  the  eaft, 
attended  with  extraordinary  phenomena. -f  Some  of  thefe 
are  taken  notice  of  by  the  Arabian  hiftorians,and  others  are 
fnentioned  by  them,  concerning  whjch  the  Greek  hiftories 

are 

*  M.  Millot  places  this  account  among  the  «  exaggerations  which  ought  not 
to  have  a  place  in  hiftory  ;"  but,  as  we  have  no  evidence  for  or  againft  the  fadt, 
it  was  thought  proper  to  let  jt  remain  as  related  by  the  hiftorians  of  t-hofe 
times.  It  is  certain  that  in  thofe  days  mankind  allernbled  for  the  purpofes 
of  bloodfhed  and  flaughter  in  prodigious  numbers  ;  the  deftru&ion  was  corn- 
raonly  in  proportion  tp  the  numbers  aflernbled.  The  account  is  not  more  in- 
credible than  that  of  Tamerlane's  filling  up  the  harbour  of  Smyrna  by 
caufing  each  of  his  foldiers  to  throw  a  (lone  into  it.  Such  an  army  cbultf 
have  f  pared  the  number  in  queftion. 

t  Set  Sec,  i. 


THE   PLAGUE.  5i 

are  filent.  In  636,  particularly,  we  hear  of  violent  ftorms 
of  hail  throughout  the  Arabian  Peninfula,  and  of  Syria 
being  ravaged  by  epidemic  diftempers.  It  would  feem, 
indeed,  that  the  plague,  during  the  whole  of  thefe  hor- 
rible periods,  had  never  been  extinguifhed  j  for  in  671 
they  tell  us  that  a  celebrated  Arab,  named  Ziyad,  died 
of  the  plague  ;  though  neither  Greek  nor  Arabian  hif- 
torians  take  notice  of  any  remarkable  peftilence  as 
raging  at  that  time.  We  are  told  that  this  man  was 
attended  by  no  fewer  than  an  hundred  and  fifty  phyfi- 
cians.*  "  But,  as  the  decree  was  fealed,  and  the  thing 
determined,  they  found  it  impoffible  to  fave  him."  This 
diftemper  was  attended  with  fuch  an  excruciating  pain 
in  his  right  hand,  that  the  unhappy  patient  had  re- 
courfe  to  a  cadi,  or  judge,  to  inform  him  whether  he 
might  lawfully  cut  it  off.  The  judge  determined  that 
it  was  abfolutely  unlawful  to  do  fo ;  notwithftanding 
which,  Ziyad  refolved  to  proceed  :  but  his  heart  failed 
him  when  he  favv  the  inftruments  and  cauterifing  irons 
to  be  employed  in  the  operation  ;  for  in  thofe  times  of 
barbarity  and  ignorance  they  knew  no  other  method  of 
flopping  blood  but  by  a  hot  iron  ;  and  therefore  fome 
of  the  phyficians  in  ancient  times,  when  a  limb  was  to 
be  cut  off,  ordered  the  incifion  to  be  made  down  to  the 
bone  with  a  red  hot  razor.  But,  to  return  to  our  fubjeft  : 
In  Syria  and  Mefopotamia  fwarms  of  locufls  infefted 
the  earth  about  the  year  679  ;  but,  as  it  feems  extremely 
probable  that  the  plague  was  never  out  of  the  eaftern 
regions,  we  cannot  expect  to  hear  much  of  it,  unlefs 
when  extremely  violent.  That  in  the  time  of  Conftan- 
tine  Copronymus  feems  to  have  extended  over  Arabia, 
as  we  are  told  that  theKhalif  Yezid,whowas  cotemporary 
with  Copronymus,  died  of  the  plague.  We  are  alfo 
told,  that  the  earthquakes  which  affli&ed  the  territories 
of  the  Greek  emperors  extended  themfelves  to  the  coun- 
tries about  the  Cafpian  Sea.  In  thofe  ages  indeed  the 
phenomena  of  nature  appear  to  have  been  fo  extraordi- 
nary, that  we  can  fcarcely  account  them  any  other  than 
jniraculous.  Some  of  thefe  have  been  defcribed  in  the 

former 

*  Modern  Univ.  Hift.    Arabia, 


6z  A    TREATISE    ON 

former  fe&ion,  on  the  authority  of  the  Greek  hiftorians : 
the  Arabians  make  mention  of  others  fimilar.  They 
tell  us,  alfo,  that  once  or  twice  it  rained  black  Hones,  and 
that  fome  of  thefe  were  fo  inflammable,  that  an  Arab 
having  attempted  to  make  a  fire  with  one  of  them  in  his 
tent,  it  burft  out  into  fuch  a  violent  flame  as  confumed 
the  tent  altogether.*  This  rain  may  be  accounted  for 
from  the  explofion  of  a  volcano  ;  but  how  fhall  we  ac- 
count for  the  fun  himfelf  lofing  his  light  ?  a  phenomenon 
acknowledged  even  by  Mr.  Gibbon ;  though  that 
author  huddles  things  together  in  fuch  a  manner  as 
feems  totally  inconfiftent  with  the  regular  chain  of 
events.  He  tells  us,  that  the  dreadful  plague,  which 
broke  out  in  the  time  of  Juftinian,  was  preceded  by 
comets,  and  mod  violent  earthquakes ;  and  that  thefe 
comets  were  attended  with  an  extraordinary  palenefs  of 
the  fun.  This  may  be  ;  but  the  word  palenefs  cannot 
apply  to  the  darknefs  which  lafled  from  the  fourth  of 
Auguft  to  the  firft  of  O&ober,  and  to  which  he  feems 
to  allude,  though  it  happened  long  after  the  time  of 
Juftinian  ;  neither  can  it  be  applied  to  what  I  am  now 
about  to  relate,  viz.  that  in  the  year  782*  a  little  after 
funrife,  the  folar  light  was  loft  without  an  eclipfe,  and 
the  darknefs  continued  till  noon.  It  is  impoflible  to 
read  the  hi  (lories  of  thofe  times  without  remembering 
the  words  of  our  Saviour,  that  there  mould  be  figns  in 
the  fun  and  in  the  moon,  diftrefs  and  perplexity  of  na- 
tions, the  fea  and  waves  roaring,  men's  hearts  failing 
them  for  fear,  &c.  But,  however  the  God  of  nature 
might  thus  intimate  to  mankind  his  difpleafure  with 
their  proceedings,  it  is  certain  they  made  no  alteration 
in  their  conducl.  The  Saracens,  having  conquered  im- 
menfe  tracts  of  country,  engaged  in  civil  wars  among 
themfelves;  the  weftern  nations,  after  having  tried  in 

vain 

*  That  fuch  accounts  are  not  to  be  looked  upon  as  entirely  fabulous,  may  be 
gathered  from  what  is  related  by  Mr.  Thornton  in  his  travels  through  PaleJ- 
tine,  viz.  that  on  the  brink  of  the  lake  Aiphaltites  he  found  numbers  of 
•«  fmall  Hack  pebbles,  which  are  foon  fet  on  fire  by  being  held  in  the 
flame  of  a  candle,  and  yield  a  fmoke  intolerably  (linking  and  ofJeniive ;  but 
have  this  remarkable  property,  that  by  burning  they  lofe  nothing  of  their 
weight,  nor  fuffer  any  diminution  in  their  bulk.  They  are  capable  of  taking 
as  fine  a  polifh  as  black  marble,  and  are  likewife  faid  to  be  met  with  of  con* 
ft&rable  (ize  in  the  neighbouring  mountains," 


THE    PLAGUE.  63 

vain  to  deftroy  each  other,  at  lad  united  in  a  romantic 
defign  of  conquering  Paleftine  from  the  Infidels ;  while 
the  Turks,  leaving  their  habitations  about  Mount  Cau- 
cafus,  where,  like  the  vultures  of  Prometheus,  they  had 
for  ages  remained  unfeen  and  unknpwn,  precipitated 
themfelvcs  upon  the  Greeks  and  Saracens,  and  laftly,  as 
if  all  hell  had  broke  loofe  at  once,  the  Moguls,  from  the 
moil  eafterly  part  of  Afia,  poured  deftruction  upon  the 
countries  to  the  weft,  even  as  far  as  Ruflia  and  Poland. 

All  thefe  events  took  place  in  a  few  centuries.  In 
844  the  Turks  quitted  Mount  Caucafus,  and  fettled  in 
Armenia  Major.  In  1030  they  fell  upon  the  Saracen 
empire,  now  divided  among  innumerable  chieftains  con- 
tinually at  war  with  each  other.  Among  thefe  was  one 
called  the  Sultan  of  Perfia,  and  another  of  Babylon. 
The  former  being  worfted,  called  in  the  Turks  to  his 
afliftance.  They  fent  him  an  auxiliary  army  of  only 
three  thoufand  men  j  and  from  this  flender  beginning  has 
arifen  the  vaft  empire  of  the  Ottoman  Porte.  The 
three  thoufand  men  were  commanded  by  a  general  called 
by  the  Greeks  Tangrolipix,  and  by  the  Afiatics  Togrul 
Beg.  Being  a  man  of  ability,  the  Sultan  of  Perfia,  by 
his  affiftance,  gbt  the  better  of  his  adverfary  ;  but,  refut- 
ing to  let  the  Turks  depart,  Tangrolipix  with  his  army 
withdrew  to  the  defert  of  Carbanitis,  where,  being  joined 
by  numbers  of  difcontented  Perfians,  he  began  to  invade 
the  territories  of  the  Saracens.  The  Sultan  of  Perfia 
fent  againft  him  an  army  of  twenty  thoufand  men,  whom 
Tangrolipix  furprifed  and  defeated,  acquiring  at  the 
fame  time  an  immenie  booty.  The  fame  of  his  victory, 
and  his  wealth,  procured  him  bands  of  robbers,  thieves, 
and  blackguards,  from  all  the  neighbouring  countries ; 
fo  that  he  foon  found  himfelf  at  the  head  of  fifty  thou- 
fand. Againft  fuch  a  formidable  force  the  Sultan  of 
Perfia  marched  in  perfon  ;  but  happening  to  lofe  his 
life  in  the  engagement  by  a  fall  from  his  hoirfe,  his  men 
threw  down  their  arms  and  acknowledged  Tangrolipix 
to  be  Sultan  of  Perfia. 

The  new  fuitan  inftantly  thought  of  deftroying  other 
fultans  and  potentates ;  for  which  purpofe  he  opened  a 

paffagc 


64  A   TREATISE   ON 

paffage  for  his  countrymen  from  Armenia  to  Perfia; 
The  Sultan  of  Babylon  was  the  firft  vidtim ;  after  which 
Tangrolipix  turned  his  arms  unfuccefsfully  againft  the 
Arabians,  but  afterwards  more  fuccefsfully  againft  the 
Greek  emperors.     The  firft  invafion  by  the  Turks  took 
place  in   1041  ;   and  in  four  hundred  and  twelve  years 
they  became  abfolute  mafters  of  the  empire.     Though 
unfuccefsful  at  firft  againft  the  Saracens,  they  prevailed 
greatly  afterwards,  and,  by  the  time  of  the  crufades,  we 
find  them  mafters  of  Paleftine,  as  well  as  feveral  other 
countries  formerly  conquered  by  the  Arabs.     From  the 
time  of  their  firft  invafion,  in  1041,  we  may  fay,  the  war 
never  ceafed  ;  and  there  is  the  greateft  reafon  to  fuppofe 
that  the  Greek  empire  would  have  been  overthrown  in 
a  very  (hort  time,  had  not  the  crufaders  checked  their 
progrefs.     The  immenfe  numbers  with  whom  the  bar- 
barians had  now  to  contend   (amounting  to  no  fewer 
than  feven  hundred  thoufand)  threatened  with  deftruc- 
tion  the  newly  ere&ed  empire  of  the  Turks ;  and  had  it 
not  been  for  the  want  of  unanimity  among  the  crufaders 
themfelves,  and  the  jealoufy  of  the  emperors  of  Con- 
ftantinople,  they  certainly  would  have  overthrown  it. 
But,  as  matters  went,  all  their  labour  was  loft ;  and  they 
only  increafed  the  general  carnage  and  defolation  to  an 
extreme  degree.      The  firft  crufade  was  planned    in 
1093,  publiihcd  in  1095,  and  in  March  1096  the  firft 
army  fet  out.     In  1097  they  began  their  conquefts,  but 
foon  found  it  very  difficult  to  keep  them.     The  Turks 
being  at  home,  and  united,  had  many  advantages  over 
foreign   invaders  ;    which    the    latter  endeavoured   to 
counteract  by  drawing  continual  fupplies  of  frelh  men 
from  Europe.     Thus,  for  feveral  centuries,  the  weftern 
part  of  Afia  was  rendered  a  fcene  of  bloodfhed  and  defo- 
lation.    When  they  had  contended  for  fomething  more 
than  two  hundred  years,  Jenghiz  Khan,  the  Mogul,  feems 
to  have  formed  the  noble  defign  of  deftroying  the  whole 
human  race  at  once,  excepting  only  his  own  immediate 
followers.     His  plan  was,  to  exterminate  man,  woman 
and  child  wherever  he  went,  and  to  plant  the  countries 
with  his  own  people.     It  is  impoffible  to  do  juftice  to 

his 


THE   PLAGUE.  65 

liis  exploits.  Voltaire,  fpeaking  of  the  irruption  of  the 
Moguls,  faysj  that  the  people  fled  every  where  before 
themj  like  wild  beads  roufed  from  their  dens  by  other 
beads  more  favage  than  themfelves.  In  the  Univerfal 
Hiftory  we  are  told,  that  he  is  fuppofed  to  have  deftroyed 
fourteen  millions  and  an  half  of  his  fellow  creatures.  He 
died  in  1227,  and  left  fucceffors  worthy  of  himfelf. 
Some  of  thefe  proceeded  eaftward,  and  fome  weft  ward. 
The  latter,  under  the  conduct  of  a  monjier  named  Hula- 
kit,  overthrew,  in  the  year  1256,  the  remains  of  the 
Saracen  empire,  by  the  taking  of  Bagdad.  The  mifera- 
ble  Khalif,  coming  forth  to  meet  his  conqueror,  was 
trampled  under  his  horfe's  feet,  then  fewed  up  in  a  fack, 
dragged  through  the  ftreets,  and  thrown  into  the  river. 
The  Moguls  who  proceeded  eaftward  invaded  China. 
The  Chinefe  refilled  with  innumerable  multitudes,  and 
battles  were  fought  to  which  thofe  of  the  prefent  age  are 
mere  fkirmifhes.  The  foldiers,  overcome  with  third* 
drank  blood  inftead  of  water ;  hundreds  of  thoufands 
fell  on  both  fides,  while  human  blood  ran  in  dreams  for 
five  or  fix  miles.  At  lad  the  fury  of  the  Moguls  was 
dopped  by  the  ocean  ;  for,  having  attempted  the  con- 
queft  of  Japanj  their  fleet  was  wrecked,  and  an  hundred 
thoufand  periihed.  Like  other  great  empires,  alfo,  pre- 
tenders to  the  fovereignty  darted  up,  and  the  whole  was 
parcelled  out  into  a  number  of  little  dates,  which,  of 
courfe,  ceafed  to  be  formidable. 

The  decline  of  the  Mogul  empire  did  not  redore 
peace  to  the  world.  The  Turks  continued  their  ravages  j 
the  wedern  nations  continued  their  crufades.  England* 
which  became  a  kingdom  in  806,  had  been  ravaged  and 
conquered  by  the  Danes  and  Normans^  and  likewife  dif- 
trefled  by  civil  wars.  At  lad,  having  emerged  from  its 
own  difficulties,  it  began  to  inflict  upon  other  nations 
the  miferics  itlelf  had  endured.  Wales  and  Scotland 
became  objects  of  the  ambition  of  JJdward  I*  who  had 
already  fignalized  his  valour  in  the  crufade.  The 
WeKh  were  totally  fubjugated,  and  the  Scots  overthrown 
in  the  very  bloody  battle  of  Falkirk,  where  almod  the 
whole  force  of  the  country  was  deftroyed.  The  Scots, 

K  however, 


66  A   TREATISE   ON 

however,  were  never  totally  fubdued.  Robert  Bruce 
retaliated  on  the  Englifh  in  the  battle  of  Bannock-burn, 
where  two  hundred  thoufand  Englifh  were  defeated  by 
thirty  thoufand  Scots.  But  Robert  was  not  contented 
with  afferting  the  liberty  of  his  country.  Jealous  of 
his  brother  Edward,  he  fent  him  with  an  army  to 
conquer  Ireland.,  We  fhall  not  doubt  of  his  valour,  or 
of  the  miferies  he  inflided,  or  was  willing  to  inflid,  upon 
the  people  among  whom  he  came.  In  dedroying  them 
he  dedroyed  his  own  army.  They  were  reduced  to  the 
mod  dreadful  ftraits  by  famine,  infomuch  that  they 
were  obliged  to  feed  upon  the  mod  Joathfome  matters, 
their  own  excrements  not  excepted. 

Being  now  arrived^at  the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth 
century,  we  fee  that,  from  Ireland  to  China,  mankind 
had  involved  themfelves  in  one  general  work  of  de- 
finition. Befides  the  wars,  famines  had  been  fo  fre- 
quent, that  the  eating  of  one  another  feemed  to  be  but 
a  common  affair.  Indeed  the  hiftory  of  mankind  would 
tempt  one  to  believe  that  they  thought  themfelves 
brought  into  the  world  for  no  other  purpofe  but  to  de- 
droy  each  other.  As  far  back  as  the  year  409,  in  the 
time  of  the  wars  of  the  Vandals  in  Spain,  a  dreadful 
famine  took  place,  which,  in  410,  reduced  many  to  the 
neceffity  of  feeding  upon  human  flefli ;  parents  devoured 
their  children,  and  the  wild  beads,  being  deprived  of  the 
dead  bodies  which  they  ufed  to  feed  upon,  but  which 
were  at  this  time  devoured  by  the  living,  fell  upon  the 
latter,  and  thus  increafed  the  general  dedrudion.  Such 
of  the  Romans  as  fled  into  drong  holds  and  fortreffes,. 
were  in  the  end  obliged  to  feed  upon  one  another.  To 
thefe  calamities  the  pedilence  was  added,  which  did  not 
fail  to  rage  in  its  ufual  manner.  Famine  and  peftilence 
had  alfo  ravaged  the  city  of  Rome  when  befieged  by  the 
Goths  under  Vitiges,  and  under  Totila.  In  this  lad 
liege  the  unhappy  citizens  were  reduced  to  fuch  draits, 
that  they  confumed  even  the  grafs  which  grew  near  the 
walls,  and  were  at  kd  obliged  to  feed  on  their  own  ex- 
crements. We  do  not  indeed  hear,  at  this  time,  of  any 
particular  indances  of  people  feeding  upon  one  another  > 

though, 


THE   PLAGUE.  67 

though,  in  fuch  dreadful  emergences,  it  is  fcarcely  to  be 
doubted  that  fome  would  have  recourfe  to  this  terrible 
expedient  in  order  to  allay  their  hunger.  But  in  the 
famines  which  took  place  during  the  ravages  of  the  Sa- 
racens, Turks  and  Moguls,  nothing  feems  to  have  been 
more  common.  In  1066  a  mod  grievous  famine  took 
place  at  Alexandria  in  Egypt,  and  throughout  the  whole 
country.  Three  bufliels  and  a  half  of  flour  were  fold  at 
eighty  dinars,  a  dog  at  five,  and  a  cat  at  three.  The 
Vifir,  having  waited  on  the  Khalif,  left  his  borfe  at  the 
palace  gate  -,  but,  before  he  returned,  the  animal  had 
been  carried  off  and  eaten.  Three  men  were  hanged 
for  this  theft,  and  their  bodies  ordered  to  be  expofed 
upon  gibbets ;  but  next  day  they  were  found  picked  to 
the  bones,  their  flefli  having  been  all  cut  off  and  de- 
voured the  preceding  night.  Bodies  of  men  and  women 
were  boiled,  and  their  flefh.  publicly  fold.  A  violent 
plague  followed,  which  fwept  away  the  greateft  part  of 
the  inhabitants.  As  the  hellifh  Moguls  fpread  defola- 
tion  wherever  they  advanced,  fo  their  retreats  were 
equally  formidable.  1111243,  having  advanced  as  far 
as  Aleppo  in  Syria,  they  found  themfelves  obliged  to 
retreat,  and  that  for  a  very  odd  reafon,  viz.  that  their 
horfes  were  not  well  (hod.  This,  however,  did  not  hin- 
der them  from  deftroying  every  thing  the  earth  pro- 
duced, and  dripping  every  man,  nay,  every  woman, 
they  met,  even  of  their  clothes.  The  confequence  was, 
a  terrible  famine,  fo  that  people  were  fain  to  fell  their 
children  for  fmall  pieces  of  bread. 

Such  was  the  conduct  of  men,  from  one  end  of  the 
earth  to  the  other,  during  the  interval,  if  any  interval 
there  was,  between  the  plague  in  the  time  of  Juftinian 
and  that  of  1346.  The  peftilence,  which  had  con- 
tinually raged  in  one  place  or  other,  now  overfpread  the 
whole  world.  At  what  time  it  began  to  decline  we 
know  not  j  and,  indeed,  as  the  fame  defolations  and 
maflacres  continued,  if  thefe  had  any  fhare  in  its  pro- 
dudion,  it  ought  fcarcely  to  have  declined  at  all.  That 
there  was  all  this  time  little  or  no  interval,  appears  from 
what  Dr.  Rulh  fays,  vol.  iii.  p.  165,  that  between  the 

years 


68  A    TREATISE    ON 

years  1006  and  1680,  that  is,  in  a  period  of  674  years, 
the  plague  was  fifty -two  times  epidemic  all  over  Europe. 
Suppofing  the  intervals  between  every  general  infeftion 
then  to  have  been  equal,  and  the  plague  to  have  lafted 
only  one  year  at  a  time,  it  mult  have  recurred  once  in 
twelve  years.  But  the  intervals  were  not  equal;  for 
the  Doctor  tells  us  that  it  prevailed  fourteen  times  in 
the  fourteenth  century  ;  which  gives  an  interval  of  lefs 
than  feven  years  ;  and  if  the  peftilence  fo  frequently  over- 
fpread  the  whole  continent,  we  may  be  very  fure  that  it 
never  was  out  of  particular  places  of  it.  The  Doctor 
adds,  "  The  ftate  of  Europe  in  this  long  period  is  well 
known."  We  (hall  alfo  confider  that  of  Afia. 

The  empire  of  the  Moguls,  which  had  fallen  into 
decay,  revived  under  Tamerlane ;  who,  following  the 
example  of  Jenghiz  Khan,  had  the  epithet  of  the 
dejhoying  prince  beftowed  upon  him  by  the  Indians,  on 
account  of  his  behaviour  in  their  country.  Building 
his  captives  into  walls  with  (tones  and  lime,  pounding 
them  by  thoufands  in  large  mortars,  was  his  common 
practice  ;  while  the  Turks,  proceeding  weftward,  wafted 
•every  thing  with  fire  and  fword  ;  the  chriftians  all  the 
while  continuing  their  mad  crufades,  and  when  driven 
from  one  place  endeavouring  to  eflablifli  themfelvcs  in 
another.  At  laft  the  Turks  and  Tartars,  or  Moguls,  or 
rather  their  emperors,  happening  to  quarrel,  the  battle 
of  Angora,  in  Galatia,  decided  (at  the  expenfe  of  fome 
hundred  thoufand  lives)  the  difpute  in  favour  of  Tamer- 
lane 5  but,  as  his  empire  ended  with  his  life,  the  Turks 
foon  recovered  from  the  blow  they  had  received  ;  and, 
by  the  taking  of  Conftantinople  in  1453,  put  an  end  to 
the  terrible  commotions  which  had  prevailed  in  the  eaft 
for  fo  many  ages.  The  crufades  had  alfo  for  fome  time 
been  dilcontinued,  and  the  world  hath  lince  that  time 
been  comparatively  in  a  ftate  of  peace. 

But,  by  fo  much  intercourfe  with  the  Afiatics,  efpe- 
cially  with  the  countries  particularly  fubject  to  the 
plague,  all  Europe  had  been  fo  deeply  infe&ed,  that  the 
cli (temper  could  not  but  prevail  for  a  long  time,  even 
Chough  it  had  not  been  kept  up  by  the  aimoft  continual 


THE   PLAGUE.  £9 

wars  of  the  Europeans  with  one  another,  which  was  too 
much  the  cafe.     Dr.  Sydenham  informs  us  that  before 
Jiis  time  the  plague  commonly  vifited  England  once  in 
forty  years  ;  but  by  this  we  muft  underfland  a  very  vio- 
lent infection ;  for  Dr.  Rijfh  tells  us  that  plagues  pre- 
vailed   in  London  every  year  from   1593^1611,  and 
from  1636  to  1649.     The  author  of  the  Journal  of  the 
Plague  Year  (1665)  mentions  a  vifitation  in  1656  ;  and 
Mr.  Carey,  in  the  beginning  of  his  account  of  the  plague 
of  London  in  1665,  fays,   that  the  plague  was  almqft 
continually  among  the  difeafes  enumerated  in  their  bills 
of  mortality ;  fo  that  we  may  fairly  conclude  it  to  have 
been  endemic  in  that  city.     Now  let  us  fee  how  Eng- 
land had  employed  itfelf.     Jts  kings,  as  well  as  many  of 
their  fubje&s,  had  gone  to  the  holy  wars,  as  they  called 
them,   and,   by  continuing   in   that   devoted  country 
where  moil  probably  the  peftilence  firft  originated,  it  is 
impoflible  to  fuppofe  that  fome  of  them  did  not  receive 
the  contagion.     Having  caught  the  peftilence  in  the 
koly  war,  they  came  home  to  diffufe  it  among  their 
countrymen,  and  to  keep  it  up  by  'profane  wars,  I  fup- 
pofe, both  foreign  and  domeftic.     Henry  VII  put  an 
-end  to  a  very  long  and  bloody  contefl  between  the 
houfes  of  York  and  Lancafter ;    but  he  brought  the 
peftilence  along  with  him,  which  raged  violently  during 
the  fifteenth  and  Sixteenth  centuries.     A  moft  violent 
war,  for  half  a  century,  on  the  continent  of  Europe,  and 
civil  wars  in  England,  would  ftill  continue  to  keep  the 
infection  alive  from  1600  to  1648,  when  a  general  peace 
was  concluded ;   and  from  the  fubfequent  ftate  of  tran- 
quillity, probably,  after  the  violent  attack  in  1665,  it 
feems  to  have  languifhed  and  died  in  England,  as  a 
plant  in  a  foil  not  natural  to  it. 

But,  though  England  has  fince  remained  in  peace,  on 
the  continent  it  has  been  otherwife.  In  the  beginning 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  the  heroic  madnefs  of  Charles 
XII  feemed  ready  to  confound  the  north,  while  the 
glorious  exploits  of  prince  Eugene  and  the  duke  of 
Marl  borough  appeared  equally  confounding  to  France. 
Jn  the  midft  of  thefe  grand  atchievments,  the  peftilence 

filently 


jo  A  TREATISE   ON 

filently  claimed  its  (hare  in  the  common  work  of  de- 
ftruction ;  carrying  oif  upwards  of  two  thoufand  in  a 
week  for  fome  time,  in  1709,  in  the  city  of  Dantzick, 
and,  in  1711,  twenty-five  out  of  fixty  thoufand  inhabi- 
tants in  Copenhagen. 

The  infection,  however,  feemed  now  to  be  retiring  to 
the  place  from  whence  it  originally  came.  In  1666,  or 
foon  after,  it  feems  to  have  totally  abandoned  the  ifland 
of  Britain;  with  the  attack  in  1711  it  left  the  weflern 
countries  of  the  continent  next  to  that  ifland  ;  in  1713, 
1714  and  1715  we  are  informed  by  baron  Van  Swieten 
that  it  ravaged  Auilria  ;  in  1721,  or  foon  after,  it  aban- 
doned France  ;  in  1743  it  made  its  lad  attack  on  Mef- 
fina ;  and  in  1 784  we  find  it  confined  to  Dalmatia  and 
the  eaftern  territories,  where  it  has  fo  long  reigned  with- 
out interruption. 

From  the  view  then  which  we  have  taken  of  the  con- 
duel:  of  the  human  race,  and  the  confequences  of  that 
conduct,  we  may  reafonably  conclude,  that  war  will  pro- 
duce famine  and  peftilence,   and  that  after  all  violent 
wars  a  violent  peftilence  may  be  expected,  efpecialiy  if 
the  contending    parties   interfere     with  thofe   nations 
where  it  is  moil  frequent.     Another  piece  of  conduct 
by  which  mankind  expofe  themfelves  to  peftilential  con- 
tagions is,  the  practice  of  cooping  themfelves  up  in  great 
cities.     Mr.  Gibbon,  fpeaking  of  earthquakes,  fays,  that 
men,  though  always  complaining,  frequently  bring  mif- 
chief  upon  themfelves.     "  The  inflitution  of  great  ci- 
"  ties  (adds  he)  which  enclofe  a  nation  within  the  limits 
"  of  a  wall,  almofl  realifes  the  wifh  of  Caligula,  that  the 
**  Roman  people  had   but  one  neck.     In  thefe  difaf- 
**  ters  (earthquakes)  the  architect  becomes  the  enemy 
"  of  mankind.     The  hut  of  a  favage,  or  the  tent  of  an 
"  Arab,  is  thrown  down  without  injury  to  the  inhabi- 
*6  tant ;    and  the  Peruvians  had  reafon  to  deride  the 
<£  folly  of  the  Spanifli  conquerors,  who  with  fo  much 
"  coil  and  care  erected  their  own  fepulchres.     The  rich 
"  marbles  of  a  palace  are  daihed  on  his  own  head,  a 
*'  whole  people  is  buried  under  the  ruins  of  public  or 
*•'  private  edifices,  and  the  conflagration  is  kindled  and 

"  propagated 


THE   PLAGUE.  71 

f<  propagated  by  innumerable  fires  neceflary  for  the 
"  fubfiftence  and  manufactures  of  a  great  city."  la 
plagues,  great  cities  are  unquestionably  as  pernicious  as 
in  earthquakes ;  not  indeed  by  reafon  of  the  weight  and 
bulk  of  the  materials,  but  the  confinement  of  the  peo- 
ple within  the  fphere  of  infedion,  and  their  continual 
expofure  to  the  caufes  which  prepare  the  body  for  re- 
ceiving it.  In  fad,  it  has  always  been  found  that 
plagues  begin  in  cities;  and  were  it  not  for  the  multi- 
tudes that  continually  fly  out  of  them  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  the  mortality  would  be  much  greater  than  it 
is.  The  intercourfe  of  many  nations  with  one  another, 
the  carrying  from  one  end  of  the  earth  to  the  other  of 
goods  capable  of  bringing  with  them  the  infedion,  muft 
alfo  be  fuppofed  a  very  principal  caufe  of  peftilence ; 
but  this  laft  will  be  more  fully  confidered  in  the  next 
fedion.  At  prefent  we  may  conclude,  that,  the  pefti- 
lential  contagion  having  originally  fallen  upon  mankind 
for  their  fins,  it  is  ftill  kept  alive  by  the  fame  caufes  ; 
and,  as  far  as  we  can  conjecture,  thefe  fins  are,  the  pro- 
penfity  to  murder  and  deftroy  which  breaks  forth  in 
war  ;  the  vanity,  pride  and  luxury  which  produces  great 
cities ;  and  the  fame  vanity,  &c.  joined  with  avarice, 
which  gives  life  to  commerce.  Add  to  all  this  the  neg- 
led  of  the  cultivation  of  the  earth,,  which  ought  to  be 
the  principal  bufinefs  of  man.  In  confequence  of  this 
neglect,  immenfe  tracts  of  it  are  ftill  overrun  with 
woods,  covered  with  ftagnant  and  noxious  waters,  or 
lying  in  wafte  and  now  uninhabitable  deferts,  fit  only 
for  ferpents  and  the  mod  deftrudive  animals.  Thus  the 
very  climate  is  changed  from  what  it  ought  to  be ;  the 
elements  become  hoftile  to  man  in  an  extreme  degree, 
and  the  whole  fyftem  of  nature,  originally  defigned  to 
give  life  and  happinefs  to  the  human  race,  is,  through 
their  own  mifcondud,  changed  into  a  fyftem  of  mifery, 
difeafe  and  death. 

The  account  juft  now  given  of  the  ways  in  which 
mankind  bring  upon  themfelves  the  plague,  and  other 
difeafes  ahnoft  equally  terrible,  is  fo  conformable  to  the 
opinions  of  the  learned  Di\  Mead,  that  I  (hall  conclude 

this 


72  A    TREATISE    Otf 

this  fe&ion  with  a  few  extracts  from  his  works.  Of  th£ 
fmall  pox  he  fays,  that  he  fuppofes  this  ".to  be  a  plague 
"  of  its  own  kind,  originally  bred  in  Afrixra,  and  more 
"  efpecially  in  Ethiopia,  as  the  heat  is  exceffive  there ; 
:'  and  thence,  like  the  true  plague,  was  brought  into 
"  Arabia  and  Egypt,  after  the  manner  above  men- 
"  tioned"  (i.  e.  by  war  and  merchandife.)  "  Now  (adds 
"  he)  if  any  one  thould  wonder  why  this  contagion  was 
if  fo  long  confined  to  its  native  foil,  without  fpreading 
;*  into  diftant  countries,  I  pray  him  to  confider,  that 
"  foreign  commerce  was  much  more  fparingly  carried  on 
;<  in  ancient  times  than  in  our  days,  efpecially  between 
"  Mediterranean  nations  j  and  likewife  that  the  ancients 
"  feldom  or  never  undertook  long  voyages  by  fea,  as  we 
"  do.  And  Ludolfus  obferves,  that  the  Ethiopians  in 
:<  particular  were  ignorant  of  mercantile  affairs.  There- 
"  fore  when  in  procefs  of  time  the  mutual  intercourfe  of 
"  different  nations  became  more  frequent  by  wars,  trade 
"  and  other  caufes,  this  contagious  difeafe  was  fpread 
"  far  and  wide.  But,  towards  the  end  of  the  eleventh 
"  century,  and  beginning  of  the  twelfth,  it  gained  vaft 
"  ground  by  means  of  the  wars  waged  by  a  confederacy 
"  of  chriftain  powers  againft  the  Saracens,  for  the  re- 
ff  covery  of  the  Holy  Land ;  this  being  the  only  vifible 
"  recompenfe  of  their  religious  expeditions,  which  they 
"  brought  back  to  their  refpective  countries/'  Of  the 
true  plague  he  fays,  "  It  appears,  I  think,  very  plainly, 
"  that  the  plague  is  a  real  poifon,  which,  being  bred  in 
v<  the  fouthern  parts  of  the  world,  is  carried  by  com- 
"  merce  into  other  parts  of  the  world,  particularly  into 
"  Turky,  where  it  maintains  itfelf  by  a  kind  of  circu- 
"  lation  from  perfons  to  goods  ;  which  is  chiefly  owing 
"  to  the  negligence  of  the  people  there,  who  are  flupid- 
"  ly  carelefs  in  the  affair :  that,  when  the  conftitution 

44  of  the  air  happens  to  favour  infection,   it  rages  there 
"  with  great  violence  ;  that  at  that  time,  more  efpecially,. 
"  difeafed  perfons  give  it  to  one  another,  and  from  them 
"  contagious  matter  is  lodged  in  goods  of  a  foft,  looie 
"  texture,  which,  being  packed  up  and  carried  into  other 

45  countries,  let  out,  when  opened*  the  imprifoned  feeds- 

"  of 


THE    PLAGUE.  73 

"  of  the  contagion,  and  produce  the  difeafe  whenever  the 

"  air  is  difpofed  to  give  them  force  ;  otherwife  they  may 

"  be  diffipated  without  any  confiderable  ill  effects.    The 

<c  air  of  our  climate  is  fo  far  from  being  ever  the  original 

"  of  the  true  plague,  that  moft  probably  it  never  produces 

"  thofe  milder  infectious  diftempers,  the  fmall  pox  and 

"  meafles.      For  thefe  difeafes  were   not  heard   of  in 

"  Europe  before  the  Moors  had  entered  Spain  ;  and,  as 

"  already  obferved,  they  were  afterwards  propagated  and 

"  fpread  through  all  nations,  chiefly  by  means  of  the 

cc  wars  with  the  Saracens.     The  fweating  iicknefs  was 

*c  moft  probably  of  foreign  original.     It  began  in  the 

"  army  with  which  king  Henry  VII  came  from  France, 

"  and  landed  in  Wales  ;   and  it  has  been  fuppofed  by 

"  fome  to  have  been  brought  from  the  famous  fiege  of 

"  Rhodes,  three  or  four  years  before,  as  may  be  collected 

"  from  one  place  of  what  Dr.  Keyes  fays  in  his  treat ife 

"  on  the  difeafe.     We  had  here  the  fame  kind  of  fever 

"  in  1713,  about  the  month  of  September,  which  was 

**  called  the  Dunkirk  fever,  as  being  brought  by  our 

"  foldiers  from  that  place.   This,  probably,  had  its  origi- 

"  nal  from  the  plague  which  broke  out  at  Dantzick  a 

"  few  years  before,  and  continued  fome  time  among  the 

"  cities  of  the  north." 

I  now  take  leave,  for  the  prefent,  of  this  fubject, 
which  exhibits  the  conduct  of  mankind  in  fuch  a  dif- 
agreeable  view.  Some,  like  M.  Millot  above  quoted, 
may  be  apt  to  fuppofe  that  many  of  the  accounts  are 
exaggerated.  But  it  is  evident*  that  in  our  days  it  is 
impoffible  to  determine  any  thing  to  be  a  falfehood,  faid 
to  have  happened  in  former  ages,  which  is  not  abfolutely 
contradictory  to  reafon.  Every  one  of  the  accounts  in- 
ferted  in  this  fection  has  found  a  place  in  the  works  of 
hiftorians  reckoned  authentic,  particularly  in  the  Uni- 
verfal  Hiftory.  All  who  believe  the  New  Teftament 
muft  certainly  believe,  from  the  words  of  our  Saviour, 
that  extraordinary  things  were  to  happen  in  the  ages 
fubfequent  to  his  appearance.  Can  we  then  difcredit 
the  relations  of  thofc  hiftorians  who  inform  us  that  ex- 
traordinary things  have  happened  ?  Modern  hiftorians, 

L  making 


74  A    TREATISE    ON 

making  their  own  judgments  the  infallible  meafure  of  wif- 
dom,  and  the  ftrength  of  nations  now  exifting  the  ulti- 
mate meafure  of  human  power,  have  endeavoured  to 
turn  into  ridicule  every  thing  which  does  not  precifely 
accord  with  thefe  two.  In  this  the  French  are  particu- 
larly culpable  ;  accounting  every  thing  to  be  incredible 
which  exceeds  the  powej  of  modern  France  to  accom- 
plifh,  though  they  certainly  do  not  know  even  the 
extent  of  this  power.  Of  fuch  fcandalous  vanity  we 
have  a  notable  inftance  in  the  works  of  prelident  Goguet, 
who  pofitively  determines  that  the  walls  of  ancient  Ba- 
bylon, the  pyramids  of  Egypt,  and  all  the  wonderful 
works  of  Semiramis,  Nebuchadnezzar,  &c.  were  not 
equal  to  the  canal  of  Languedoc  made  by  Louis  XIV  ! 


SECTION    III. 

Of  Difeafe  in  general. — The  nature  of  the  Plague  as  a 
Difeafe  confidered. — Of  Contagion. — Whether  the  Plague 
is  really  Contagious  or  not. — Medical  Hi/lory  of  the  Dif- 
temper. — Inquiry  into  its  Immediate  Caufes,  and  whether 
an  approaching  Plague  is  indicated  by  any  vifible  Signs. 

HITHERTO  we  have  confidered  the  origin  of  the 
plague  entirely  in  a  moral  point  of  view.  We 
have  feen,  that,  in  conformity  to  the  general  opinion  of 
mankind,  it  may  realonably  be  fuppofed  to  have  been 
inflicted  upon  mankind,  the  Jews  particularly,  for  their 
tranfgreffions  ;  that,  having  been  once  introduced,  it 
has  been  perpetuated,  and  fprcad  from  nation  to  nation, 
and  that  in  proportion  to  the  degree  of  immorality  of 
a  certain  kind  prevailing  through  the  world.  From 
this  it  is  naturally  to  be  inferred,  that,  were  the  human 
race  to  live  at  peace  with  one  another,  to  difperfe  them- 
ielves  over  the  face  of  the  earth  for  the  purpofe  of 
improving  it  by  cultivation,  and  were  they  to  be  con- 
tented with  what  the  produce  of  each  country  affords, 
there  would  be  no  plague  among  them.  But  we  know 

that 


THE    PLAGUE.  75 

that  fuch  a  reformation  is  not  to  be  expected,  and  we 
mud  take  the  world  as  we  find  it.  The  queftion  then 
is,  By  what  means  (hall  individuals  fecure  themfelves 
from  being  dedroyed  by  a  plague  which  (hall  happen  to 
invade  any  country  ;  or  how  (hall  a  perfon,  already 
infected  with  it,  be  redored  to  health  ?  For  this  purpofe 
let  us  begin  with  confidering  the  nature  of  difeafe  in 
general,  and  of  the  plague  particularly. 

As  to  difeafe  in  general,  phyficians  have  differed  very 
confiderably  in  their  definitions;  and,  though  many 
have  been  given,  few  feem  to  be  unexceptionable,  that 
of  Dr.  Fordyce  feems  to  be  among  the  cleared  and 
mod  expreffive.  "  Difeafe  (fays  he)  is  fuch  an  al- 
*'  teration  in  the  chemical  properties  of  the  fluids  or 
"  folids,  or  of  their  organization,  or  of  the  action  of 
"  the  moving  powers,  as  produces  an  inability  or "diffi- 
"  culty  of  performing  the  functions  of  the  whole  or  any 
"  part  of  the  fyftem,  or  pain,  or  preternatural  eva- 
"  cuation."  But  as  this  definition,  however  juft,  cannot 
be  eafily  underftood  by  fuch  as  are  unaccuftbmed  to 
medical  language,  I  fhall  attempt  the  following  ex- 
planation of  the  animal  economy,  and  the  difeafes  to 
which  it  is  fubject. 

1.  By  nature  our  bodies  are  formed  of  certain  folid 
and  fluid  parts,  operating  upon  one  another  in  a  man- 
ner of  which  we  know  but  little.     Anatomifts  have  de* 
fcribcd  the  ftructure  of  the  human  body  and  its  parts  in 
a  certain    degree,   but   have   always  found  themfelves 
loft  in   an  inconceivable  minutenefs  of  texture.     The 
whole  dructure  of  the  human  £>ody,  vifible  and  invifible, 
is  called  its  ORGANIZATION. 

2.  This  organized    body  is   acted  upon  by   certain 
powers  refiding  in  the  atmolphere,  by  which  it  becomes 
endowed  with  LIFE. 

3.  The  operation  of  thofe  powers  upon  a  well  orga- 
nized body  conftitutes  that  agreeable  and  vigorous  date 
which  we  call  HEALTH. 

4.  The  operation  of  any  other  power,  fubftituted  in 
place  of  the  natural  one,  even  upon  a  body  perfectly 
organized,  produces  a  date  very  different  from  health ; 

commonly 


76  A    TREATISE    ON 

commonly  attended  with  Come  uneafy  fenfations,  and 
which  is  called  DISEASE.  I  fay  it  \scommonly  attended 
with  uneafmefs,  but  not  always ;  for  many  perfons 
within  a  few  hours,  nay,  a  few  minutes,  of  their  death, 
have  imagined  themfelves  quite  recovered  and  well. 
To  illuftrate  the  meaning  of  what  is  faid  of  the  fubfti- 
tution  of"  any  power  inftead  of  the  natural  one  :  It  is 
natural  for  man  to  breathe  air  of  a  certain  quality  ;  and 
while  he  does  fo  he  continues  in  health  ;  but  let  him 
breathe  the  vapour  of  burning  charcoal,  or  of  fermenting 
liquor,  mixed  in  confiderable  quantity  with  the  air  to 
which  he  has  been  accuftomed,  and  he  will  very  foon 
find  himfelf  difeafed.  Many  other  kinds  of  elaftic 
fluids  may  be  fubftituted  inftead  of  the  vapour  juft 
mentioned,  all  of  which  will  in  a  fhort  time  produce  a 
difeafe  in  the  mod  healthy  man.  The  ftate  of  a  dif- 
eafed body  being  very  different  from  that  of  a  found 
one,  the  appearances  are  confequently  very  different. 
The  various  appearances  of  difeafe  in  the  human  body 
are  called  fymptoms  of  that  difeafe,  from  a  Greek  word 
fignifying  appearance  * 

5.  A  difeafe  proves  mortal  only  by  the  PISORGANI- 
z  AT  ION  of  the  body.  By  diforganization  I  mean  any 
confiderable  alteration  in  the  ftrufture  of  the  body,  vi- 
fible  or  invifible.  The  truth  of  this  will  appear  from 
a  confederation  of  the  method  by  which  animals  may  be 
recovered,  after  being  to  appearance  dead  by  breathing 
the  vapour  of  charcoal,  or  fixed  air  in  any  other  form, 
viz.  by  plunging  them  in  cold  water.  In  a  cave  in 
Italy  a  continual  ftream  of  this  kind  of  air  ifTues  from 
the  ground.  It  rifes  but  a  fmall  way,  fo  that  a  man 
may  iafely  enter,  becaufe  his  head  is  above  the  vapour  -y 
but,  if  he  brings  a  (mail  dog  with  him,  the  animal,  in 
confequence  of  breathing  the  pernicious  fluid,  falls  down 
as  if  dead,  and  would  very  foon  die  if  left  there.  By 
throwing  it  into  a  lake  in  the  neighbourhood,  (cold 
water  of  any  kind  would  anfwer  as  well)  it  recovers.  In 

the 

*  "  Symptom  (fays  Dr.  Fovdyce)  is  the  Greek  name  for  apptarance  :"  hu*t 
from  the  ftriil  etymology  of  the  word*  it  ought  rather  to  be  tranflated  accident. 
The  univcrfal  confent  of  phylicians,  however,  has  applied  it  to  every  appear- 
ance produced  in  the  human  body  by  any  diftempcr  whatever* 


THE   PLAGUE.  77 

the  difle&ion  of  fome  unfortunate  people,  who  have 
been  killed  by  breathing  this  pernicious  fume,  a  mani^ 
fed  diforganization  has  been  obferved,  viz.  a  rarefaction 
of  the  blood,  and  too  great  dilation,  or  even  rupture,  of 
the  fmall  veflels. 

6.  A  difeafe  cannot  always  be  cured  by  removing  the 
caufe  which  brought  it  on  :  it  is  necefiary  alfo  to  repair 
the  injury  done  to  the  organization.  This  is  exempli- 
fied in  the  cafe  of  the  dog  juft  mentioned.  Taking 
him  out  of  the  vapour  is  not  fufficient  for  his  recovery, 
becaufe  the  organization  of  the  body  is  injured  ;  the 
cold  water  by  contracting  the  veflels  repairs  the  injury, 
and  the  cure  is  completed.  To  the  entire  prefervation 
of  this  organization  it  is  probably  owing,  that  people 
have  frequently  recovered  after  being  thought  dead  for 
a  long  time.*  ? 


*  Dr.  Anthony  Fothergill,  in  his  prize  differtation  upon  the  fufpenfion  ef 
vital  adlion,  quotes  fome  experiments  of  Dr.  JCite,  in  which  he  was  able  to 
reftore  to  life  animals  that  had  been  immerfed  in  water  for  eight,  tea  or 
twelve  minutes,  though  he  acknowledges  that  this  operation,  though  performed 
with  great  attention,  often  failed  ;  while  other  animals,  that  had  been 
loager  immerfed,  recovered  fpontaneoufly.  He  further  adds,  that  if  it  be  not 
attempted  before  the  convulfions  of  the  animal  ceafe,  which  on  an  average  of 
many  experiments  happens  in  about  eleven  minutes  and  a  half,  it  will  not  be 
Jufficient  to  renew  the  vital  motions.  But,  "  among  the  human  fpecies 
*«  (fays  Dr.  Fothergill)  there  are  not  wanting  well  authenticated  instances  of 
««  fpontaneous  recovery  at  an  incomparably  longer  interval,  and  after  every  ex- 
«*  ternal  mark  of  life  had  disappeared.  Such  is  the  latent  energy  of  the  heart* 
««  that  it  fometimes,  after  remaining  feveral  hours  quiefcent,  renews  on  a  fudden 
««  the  feeret  fprings  of  life,  furmounts  the  barriers  of  the  refitting  blood,  and 
««  reftpres  circulation  with  all  the  other  fundions.  Hence  the  unexpected  re- 
««  coveries  from  death-like  fyncope  brought  on  by  fudden  terror,  or  great  effu- 
«'  fions  of  blood*  evea  after  the  funeral  obfequies  have  been  prepared.  Hence 
«<  fome  perfons  have  accidentally  been  brought  to  life,  even  after  interment,  by 
«  the  rude  motion  produced  in  facrelegious  attempts  to  wreft  rings  or  brace- 
*'  lets  from  the  apparently  dead  body." 

Several  iurprifmg  inftances  of  the  recovery  of  perfons  fuppofed  to  be  dead* 
even  of  the  plagud  are  given  by  Fabricius  Hildanus  ;  to  one  of  which  Dr.  Fother- 
gill  feerns  to  allude  in  the  above  quotation.  Hildanus  relates,  that  in  the  year 
1357,  when  the  plague  raged  violently  at  Cologne,  a  certain  noble  lady»  by 
»ame  Reichmutb  Adoleb,  being  feized  with  the  difeafe,  was  thought  to  have 
died,  and  was  buried  accordingly.  Her  hufband,  out  of  affedion,  would  not 
take  off  her  wedding  ring,  which  (he  happened  to  have  on  her  finger.  The 
undertakers  being  acquainted  with  this  circumftance,  next  night  came  to  the 
church  where  fhe  was  buried,  opened  the  fepulchre,  and  prepared  to  take  off 
the  ring  ;  when  to  their  utter  aftonifhment  ihe  began  to  raife  herfelf  up  in  the 
coffin.  Struck  with  confternation  they  fled  in  the  utmoft  hafte,  leaving  to  the 
fortunate  lady  the  Unthorn  with  which  they  lighted  themfelves  to  the  church* 
and  by  means  of  which  fhe  now  found  out  where  fhe  was,  and  after  being 
come  to  herfelf,  returned  to  her  own  houfe.  Here  being  known  by  her  voice* 
and  the  ring  fhe  wore,  (he  found  admitta«ce,  and  by  means  of  a  generous  diet 
gradually  regained  her  health  ;  bringing  her  hulband  afterwards  three  children, 
and  lurviving  the  accident  many  years.  A 


73  A    TREATISE    ON 

7.  When  the  organization  of  the  body  is  injured,  the 
acYion  of  the  natural  powers  themfelves  occafions  unea- 
linefs,  and  increafes  the  difeafe.     The  cure  then  is,  to 
fubilitute  inftead  of  the  natural  power,  as  far  as    pof- 
fible,  the  action  of  fome  other  power  till  the  organiza- 
tion is  reftored  ;  after  which  the  natural  power  muft  be 
again  allowed  to  act,  or  a  difeafe  of  another  kind  will 
take  place.     This  may  be  exemplified  in  a  confumption 
of  the  lungs ;  where,  that  part  being  very  much  difor- 
ganized,  pure  air  renders  the  difeafe  worfe  ;    and  the 
lick  are  relieved  by  mixing  with  the  common  atmo- 
fphere  fuch  kinds  of  air  or  vapour  as  would  prove  per- 
nicious to  people  in  health.    But,  fuppofing  this  method 
to  be  fuccefsful,   and  the  confumption   to  be  entirely 
removed,  it  is  plain  that  the  ufe  of  the  pure  atmofphere 
muft  be  refumed,  or  the  impure  air  would  bring  on  a 
difeafe  in  the  fame  manner  as  on  a  healthy  perfon. 

8.  The  body  is  wafted  in  the  natural  operations  of 
life  ;  part  of  it  pafiing  off  with  the  vapour  of  the  breath, 
part  by  infenfible  perfpiration,  &c.     Hence  it  naturally 
tends  to  diforganization  and  death,  unlefs  the  wafte  be 
repaired. 

9.  This  natural  wafte  of  the  body  is  repaired,  and 
health  kept  up,  by  the  food  and  drink  taken  into  the 

ftomach-  10.  Hence 

A  fecond  inftance  no  lefs  remarkable  is  of  a  woman  of  the  name  of  NUolIe 
LentilU>  who,  being  fuppofed  dead  of  the  plague,  had  been  thrown  into  a 
pit  with  a  great  number  of  the  bodies  of  others,  dead  of  the  fame  diftemper. 
After  lying  there  a  whole  night,  (he  came  to  hcrfelf  in  the  morning,  but 
neither  knew  at  firft  where  (he  was,  nor,  when  (he  did,  could  (he  find  any 
means  of  efcaping,  or  extricating  herfelf  from  the  heap  of  dead  bodies  with 
whicji  me  was  opprefled.  Being  at  a  diftance  from  any  houfe,  her  cries  were 
of  no  avail,  and,  in  the  mean  time,  having  taker*  no  nourishment  for  four 
days,  fhe  was  fo  tormented  with  hunger  that  Ihe  eat  part  of  the  cloth  which 
covered  her  face.  At  laft,  after  remaining  twenty-four  hours  in  this  dreadful 
iituation,  the  pit  being  opened  to  bury  fome  other  perfon,  the  exerted  her  ut- 
moft  endeavours  in  calling  for  afMance,  and  at  laft  was  heard  by  thofe  who 
Hood  round.  Being  taken  up  and  brought  home,  (he  prefently  recovered,  and. 
lived  feveral  years  after. 

A  third  example  is  given  by  our  author  of  one  who,  being  carried  to  a  church 
to  be  buried,  had  his  face  previoufly  fprinkled  with  holy  water  by  a  prieft. 
But  this  was  no  fooner  done  than  he  (huddcred  and  opened  his  eyes  in  a 
fright  ;  on  which  he  was  carried  home,  recovered,  and  lived  eight  years  after. 
Other  examples  might  be  brought,  but  thele  are  fum'cicnt  to  fhow  what  dread- 
ful accidents  may  enfuc  from  early  burials,  and  how  cautious  people  ought  ts 
be  in  confining  their  friend*  and  relations  to  the  duft  from  whence  they 
were  taken. 


THE    PLAGUE.  79 

10.  Hence  arifes  another  fet  of  difeafes ;  for  as  the 
reparation  of  the  wafte,  juft  mentioned,  depends  on  the 
proper  action  of  the  ftomach  upon  the  food,  and  the 
aflimilation  of  the  latter  with  the  fubftance  of  the  body, 
it  is  plain    that  this  operation  depends  both  on   the 
proper  quality  of  the  food,  and  the  found  flate  of  the 
ftomach  itfelf. 

1 1 .  The  body  is  compofed  of  folids  and  fluids  of  dif- 
ferent kinds,  every  one  of  which  is  fubject  to  difeafes 
peculiar  to  itfelf;  but,  by  reafon   of  the  connexion  of 
the  parts  of  the  body  with  one  another,  it  is  impoflible 
that  any  one  can  be  very  much  difordered  without  af- 
fecting all  the  reft.     As  the  bond  of  connexion,  how- 
ever, is  in  many  cafes  totally  invifible  to  us,  furprifing 
inftances  frequently  occur  of  one  part  being  affected  in 
confequence  of  an  injury  done  to  another  very  diftant 
from   it.      This  connexion   between    all   parts  of  the 
body  is  called    SYMPATHY.     Dr.   Gardiner  of  Edin- 
burgh, in  his  obfervations  on  the  animal  economy,  &c. 
fays,  that  "  the  flomach  is  the  principal  feat  of  many  of 
"  the  mod   remarkable   fympathetic   affections   which 
"  happen  in  valetudinary  flates  of  the  body.     Every 
"  diforder  accompanied  with  fevere  pain  affects  the  fto- 
"  rnach,  whilft  this  vifcus  affects  not  only  in  i.ts  dif- 
"  eafed  ftate  every  part  of  the  fyftem,  but  at  other 
"  times  the  effects  of  healthful  flimuli  applied  to  it  arc 
"  inftantly  communicated  to  the  reft  of  the  body,  as 
"  when  we  take  food,  wine,  or  medicine."     Dr.  Darwin 
in  his  Zoonomia  informs  us  that  the  ftomach  is  faid  to 
fympathize  with  almoft  every  part  of  the  body  -9  but  Dr. 
Moore,  in  his  medical  iketches,  tells  us  that  the  heart 
poflcifes  a  greater  (hare  of  fympathy  than  any  other  part 

in  the  body,  and  next  to  it  the  ftomach  .*  rp, 

12.    -L  ii  e 

*  Dr.  Gardiner,  in  his  obfervations  above  quoted,   gives  the  following  cu- 
rious anecdote.     *»  An  unmarried  lady,  of  a  healthy  conftitution,  has  fuch  a 

•  peculiarity  in  the  ttruiture  of  her  nerves,  that,  though  (he  can,  in  general. 
'  bear  ftrong  odours  as  well  as  molt  people,  yet  (he  cannot  fuffer  a  rofe  to  be  in 

•  her  holorn,   or  to  hold  it  in  her  hand  a  few  minutes,    without  becoming 
1  faint,  and  having  an  inclination  to  vomit.      Conferve  of  rofes,  rofe-water, 
'  and  fimilar  articles  made  from  rofes,  have  more  powerful  effe&s  upon  her* 
«  and  ufually  excite  vomiting.     Going  into  a  room  where  any  of  her  com- 
«  paniona  are  wafhing  with  rofe-water,  never  fails  to  produce  this  cflcdt;  #or 

«*  docs  (he  recover  of  her  indilpoCtion  in  lefs  than  two  hours." 


So  A    TREATISE   ON 

12.  The  folid  parts  of  the  body  are  the  bones,  the 
mufclcs,  brain  and  nerves ;    the  fluids  are,  the  blood, 
and  others  produced  from  it.     The  bones  are  known  to 
every  one  -,  the  mufcles  are  the  flefhy  parts  throughout 
the  whole  body ;   and  the  nerves  are  a  kind  of  cords 
feemingly  originating  from  the  brain,  and  from  thenee 
accompanying  the  blood  veflels  through  all  parts  of 
the  body, 

13.  Much  has  been  difputed  about  what  is  to  be 
accounted  the  primary  part  of  the  body,  on  which  all 
the  reft  depend  ;    and  one  clafs  of  diiputarits  have  at- 
ranged  themfelves  on  the  fide  of  the  blood,  and  the  other 
on  that  of  the  nerves.     The  difpute  is  like  one  about 
the  beginning  of  a  circle.     It  cannot  be  decided,  be- 
caufe  the  blood  cannot  act  without   nerves,  nor   the 
nerves  without  blood.     I  fpeak  of  the  human   body, 
being  aware  that  in  fome  animals  the  pofition  may  be 
controverted.     The  following  is  a  concife  ftate  of  the 
matter. 

14.  All  the  blood  in  the  body  paries  through  the 
heart ;    which  has  four  cavities ;   two  called  ventricles^ 
and  two  auricles.     Thefe, from  their  pofition  in  the  body, 
are  called  the  right  and  left.     The  right  ventricle  com- 
municates with  the  right  auricle,  as  does  alfo  the  left 
ventricle  with  the  left  auricle  ;   but  there  is  no  commu- 
nication between  the  right  ventricle  and  the  left,  nor 
between  the  right  auricle  and  the  left.     Through  thefe 
cavities  all  the  blood  pafTes  to  every  part  of  the  body, 
and  returns  from  every  part  ;  but,  as  in  the  former  cafe, 
we  are  here  at  a  great  lofs  where  to  begin  its  motion  ; 
for  this   is  precifely  to  find  the  beginning  of  a  circle 
As  we  muft  begin  fomewhere,  however,  we  (hall  do  fo 
with  the  right  ventricle  of  the  heart.     This  receives  the 
blood  returning  from  all  parts  of  the  body,  and  propels 
it  into  the  right  ventricle  ;    not  the  whole  quantity  at 
once,  for  it  cannot   contain  one  half  of  it ;    but  by  de- 
grees.    The  auricle  contracts  as  foon  as  it  is  full ;    and 
in  the  time  that  the  auricle  fills,  the  ventricle  contracts, 
fo  that  it  may  be  empty,  and  ready  to  receive  the  blood 
&ooi  the  auricle.     By  the  contraction  of  the  right  ven- 
tricle 


THE   PLAGUE.  81 

tricie  the  blood  is  driven  into  the  pulmonary  artery,  and 
pafles  into  the  lungs;     Here  the  artery  branches  into  an 
infinite  number  of  fmall  veflels  much  finer  than  hairs ; 
and  thefe  again,   Uniting  into  larger  trunks,  form  at  laft 
the  pulmonary  vein,  which  brings  back  the  blood  to 
the  heart.     The  pulmonary  vein  is  inferted  into  the 
left  auricle  of  the  heart,  which  *  as  foon  as  it  is  filled  with 
blood,  contracts,  and  expels  the  blood  from  it  into  the 
left  ventricle.     From  the  left  ventricle  iffues  a  large 
artery  called  the  aorta,  which  by  its  branches  fupplies 
the  whole  body  with  the  vital  fluid.     In  all  parts  of  the 
body  the  arteries  divide  themfelves  into  innumerable 
fmall  branches,  which  terminate  in  veins  equally  fmall 
as  in  the  lungs ;  but  it  has  been  difputed  whether  the 
arteries  and  veins  actually  join  each  other  in  the  form  of 
vefTelsj  or  whether  the  arteries  depofit  the  blood  in  fmall 
cells*  from  which  the  Veins  fuck  it  up.     The  difpute  is 
of  no  confequence,  nor  can  it  be  abfolutely  decided,  on 
account    of   the  exceeding   fmallnefs   of   the   veflels  $ 
though  the  microfcopical  obfervations  are  rather  favour- 
able to  the  opinion  of  a  continuation  of  veflels.     The 
veins  from  all  parts  of  the  body  unite  into  larger  veflels, 
and  thefe  again  uniting  with  one  another,  form  at  laft 
one  very  large  vein  called  the  vena  cava,  which  opens 
into  the  right  auricle  of  the  heart,  from  which  the  cir- 
culation goes  on  as  already  defcribed.     The  two  ventri- 
cles of  the  heart,  and  all  the  veins  throughout  the  body, 
are  furnifhed  with  a  kind  of  valves,  which  allow  the 
blood  to  proceed  in  the  way  of  circulation^  but  prevent 
its  returning  in  a  cootrary  direction* 

15.  The  lungs,  through  which  all  the  blood  in  the 
body  pafles,  receive  likewife  the  air  which  we  draw  in 
every  time  we  breathe.  They  confift  of  two  large  bo- 
dies called  lobes ;  from  their  fituation  called  the  right 
and  left.  The  air  is  conveyed  into  them  by  the  wind- 
pipe, called  alfo  the  trachea^  and  the  afpera  arteria.  On. 
entering  the  cavity  of  the  breaft,  the  wind -pipe  divides 
into  two  large  branches  called  the  bronchi*  -,  one  of 
which  goes  to  the  right  and  the  other  to  the  left  lobe  of 
the  lungs.  By  the  further  divifion  and  fubdivifion  of 

M  thefe 


8z  A   TREATISE    ON 

tbefe  veflels  the  lungs  are  filled  with  an  innumerable 
multitude  of  little  tubes,  terminating  in  exceedingly 
minute  bladders  or  cells,  which  are  the  final  receptacles 
of  the  air  fucked  in  when  we  breathe.  Each  of  thefe 
cells  is  furrounded  with  a  kind  of  network  of  blood -vef- 
fels  exceedingly  fmall,  and  confiding  of  very  thin  mem- 
branes •,  fo  that,  in  paffing  through  the  lungs,  the  blood 
is  expofed  as  much  as  poffible  to  the  action  of  the  air. 

1 6.  It   is  a  matter  of  great  importance  to  find  out 
\vhat  is  the  ufe  of  this  expofure  of  the  blood  ;    and 
great  difputes  have  taken  place  concerning  it.     In  for- 
mer times  it  was  fuppofed  that  the  blood  received  from 
the  air  a  vital  fpirit,  without  which  'it  would  have  been 
totally  incapable  of  performing  its  offices  in  the  body* 
Later  phyliologifts  endeavoured  to  explode  this  notion, 
Dr.  Hales  particularly,  by  mewing  that  the  circulation 
of  the  blood   through   the  lungs  might  be  continued  by 
inflating  and  contracting  them  alternately  by  the  fumes 
of  burning  brimftone,  endeavoured  to  prove  that  the  ufe 
of  the  air  was  only  to  give  the  lungs  an  opportunity  of 
dilating  and   contracting  alternately,  by  which   means 
principally  he  thought  the  circulation  might   be  carried 
on.     This  continued  to  be  the  moft  common  hypothecs 
as  late  as  the  time  of  Dr.  Huxham.     It   was  however 
thought  alto  that  by  the  comprefiion  of   the  air  the 
blood  was  altered  in  its  texture,  its  bulk,  &c.     Accord- 
ingly Dr.  Huxham  tells  us  in  the  preface  to  his  treatife 
on  air  and  epidemic  difeafes,  that  "  air  fit  for  rcfpiration 
"  ought  neither  to  be  too  hot,  nor  very  cold  ;    for  the 
"  ufe  of  the  infpired  air  is  to  temperate  the  blood,  which 
*'  would  otherwife  grow  too  hot,  and  putrefy,,  as  is  evi- 
"  dent  from  the  experiment  of  the  moft  excellent  Boer- 
**  haave  made  in  a  hot  houfe  ;  for,  if  the  air  is  more  hot, 
**  or  even  equally  hot,  as  the  blood  of  any  animal,  it  cer- 
*'  tainly  foon  dies."* 

17.  The  modern  difcoveries  in  the  competition  of  air, 
have  tended  greatly  to  elucidate  the  ufe  of  this  fluid  in 
the  lungs,  and  its  action  on  the  blood  in  refpiration. 

Dr. 

*  This  certainly  dees  not  hold  good  if  we  fappofe  the  heat  of  the  atmof- 
phere  to  be  indicated  by  a  thermometer ;  for  we  are  afiured  that  animals  can 
live  ia  a  beat  much  Superior  to  that  which  raifes  the  mercury  to  97. 


THE   PLAGUE.  83 

Dr.  Prieftly  firft  determined  it  to  be  what  he  terms  a 
pkkgifticfrocefs,  i.  e.  a  procefs  by  which  the  parts  of  the 
blood  no  longer  proper  to  be  retained  among  the  reft,  or 
at  lead  fome  of  them,  are  carried  off.  That  fomething  is 
carried  off  either  from  the*  lungs  themfelves,  or  from  the 
blood  circulating  through  them,  is  evident ;  for  the  air 
which  is  taken  into  the  lungs  in  a  dry  ftate,  comes  out 
of  them  extremely  moift,  and  loaded  with  vapour.  An 
efTential  change  is  alfo  made  in  the  nature  of  the  air  it- 
felf ;  for  it  now  affumes  in  a  great  meafure  the  nature 
of  what  has  been  called  fixed  air,  or  the  fume  of  char- 
coal, or  fermenting  liquor,  and  thus  becomes  unfit  for 
being  breathed  a  fecond  time.  This  change  is  made  by 
the  addition  of  fome  terreftrial  fubftance  to  the  pure 
atmofphere,  which  the  latter  volatilizes  and  carries  along 
with  it.* 

18.  But,  whatever  may  be  carried  off  from  the  blood, 
during  its  paflage  through  the  lungs,  fomething  is  cer- 
tainly added  to  it,  for  the  blood  in  the  pulmonary  artery 
is  of  a  dark  red,  but  when  it  has  undergone  the  action 
of  the  air  in  the  lungs,  and  returns  by  the  pulmonary 
vein,  it  is  then  of  a  bright  fcarlet,  which  colour  it  retains 
through  all  the  arteries  of  the  body,  but  lofes  it  on  its 
return  through  the  veins.  This  fcarlet  colour  is  com- 
municated to  blood  in  all  cafes  when  expofed  to  the 
air  ;  and  Dr.  Prieftley  has  obferved  that  it  is  aded  upon 
by  the  air  even  through  a  bladder ;  much  more  then 
rnuft  it  be  fo  through  thofe  very  thin  membranes  which 
form  the  coats  of  the  fine  pulmonary  veflels.  What 
this  fubtile  matter  is  which  the  blood  receives,  (hall  be 
afterwards  inquired  into ;  at  prefent  it  is  fuflicient  to 
take  notice  that  it  is  abfolutely  neceffary,  for  the  pur- 
pofes  of  life,  that  the  blood  mould  pafs  through  the 
lungs :  for,  as  Dr.  Huxham  obferves,  "  we  fee  neither 
*'  nutrition,  nor  the  motion  of  the  mufcles,  performed 

by 

*  The  difcoveries  of  modern  chemifls  have  determined  that  the  aerial  fluid* 
termed  fxed  air  or  carbonic  acid,  and  which  is  nearly  the  fame  with  the  va* 
pour  arifing  from  fermenting  liquor,  and  is  alfo  largely  contained  in  the  fume 
of  burning  charcoal,  is  not  a  fimple  but  a  compound  fubftance  ;  one  part  con* 
fifting  of  the  pure  part  of  the  atmofphere,  or  oxygene,  the  other  of  real  char- 
coal. The  proportions,  according  to  M.  Chaptalj  are  i3>oz88  parts  of  char- 
coal to  56,687  of  oxygen. 


34  A   TREATISE   ON 

«  by  any  blood  that  hath  not  paffed  through  the  lungs  { 
*'  this  is  obfervable  from  the  coronary  arteries*  to  the 
*'  ultimate  ramifications  of  the  aorta."  As  the  previous 
circulation  of  the  blood  through  the  lungs  therefore  is 
abfolutely  neccflary  to  the  growth  and  life  of  the  body, 
and  as  the  blood  certainly  receives  fomething  from  the 
air,  we  muft  account  this  a  proof,  and  no  inconfiderable 
one,  that  the  air  contains  a  vital  fpirit,  which  it  imparts 
to  the  blood  in  the  lungs.  But,  before  we  proceed  farther 
on  this  fubjecl:,  it  is  proper  to  take  fome  notice  of 

19.  The  nerves.  Thefe,  which  conftitute  fuch  a  re- 
markable and  important  part  of  the  human  body,  are 
white  cords,  of  a  foft  pulpy  fubftance,  defended  by  a 
tough  fkin  which  goes  along  with  them  as  far  as  they 
can  be  traced.  All  the  nerves  either  originate  from  the 
brain,  or  terminate  in  it.  The  former  doctrine  hath 
been  generally  adopted,  and  in  conformity  to  that  doc- 
trine the  following  account  of  the  nerves  is  laid  down. 
The  brain  is  enclofed  in  the  cavity  of  the  fcull,  but  not 
without  the  intervention  of  two  membranes,  called  the 
dura  and  pia  mater,  to  prevent  injury  from  the  hard 
bones,  as  well  as  for  other  purpofes.  The  brain  is  di? 
vided  into  two  lobes,  the  right  and  left.  It  is  cornpofed  of 
two  different  kinds  of  fubftance,  the  outermoft  called 
the  cortical,  the  innermoft  the  medullary  fubftance  ;  the 
latter  feems  compofed  of  fine  fibres.  The  whole  of  the 
rneduljary  part  of  the  brain  terminates  in  a  fubftance 
called  the  cerebellum*  very  much  refembling  the  brain, 
but  fmaller.  The  cerebellum  terminates  in  another 
fubftance  refembling  the  medullary  part  of  the  brain, 
called  the  medulla  oblongata.  The  cerebellum  lies  in  the 
back  part  of  the  head,  and  the  medulla  oblongata  under 
it.  The  latter  terminates  in  thefpinal  marrow,  extend- 
ing from  the  lower  and  back  part  of  the  head  to  the 
Jower  extremity  of  the  back  borie,  and  is  enclofed  in  the 
hollow  of  that  bone.  The  nerves  proceed  from  thefe 
four  fubftances,  viz.  the  brain,  the  cerebellum,  the  me- 
dulla oblongata,  and  fpinal  marrow.  As  they  pafs  to  all 

parts 

*  The  name  of  the  veflels  by  which  the  heart  itfelf  is  fupplied 
Thefe  come  from  the  aorta  by  the  circuitous  way  of  the  lungs. 


THE   PLAGUE.  85 

parts  of  the  body  they  accompany  the  arteries,  dividing 
with  them  into  innumerable  fmall  branches ;  but  they 
do  not  return  with  the  veins  $  fo  that  they  feem  not  to 
contain  any  fluid  which  goes  and  comes,  or  which  circu- 
lates like  the  blood.  The  nervous  fluid,  if  any  fuch 
there  be,  feems  to  move  conftantly  one  way,  either  to 
the  brain  or  from  it. 

20.  Hitherto  we  have  noticed  only  things  which  are 
evident  to  our  fenfes,  and  which  the  induftry  of  anato- 
mifts  has  abundantly  evinced ;  but  now  our  fubjedt  ren- 
ders it  neceflary  to  ftep  afide  a  little  into  the  obfcure 
regions  of  theory  and  conjecture.  The  mufcles,  as  we 
have  formerly  faid,  are  the  flefliy  parts  of  the  body ;  and 
by  them  all  the  motions  of  the  body  are  performed. 
The  flefh  is  diflributed  into  diftinct  portions,  each  of 
which  is  enclofed  in  a  membrane  belonging  to  itfelf. 
Each  of  thefe  portions  is  a  mufcle,  and  each  mufcle  has 
a  branch  of  an  artery  and  the  branch  of  a  nerve  belong- 
ing to  it.  On  both  thefe  the  action  of  the  mufcle  de^ 
pends ;  for,  if  we  cut  the  nerve  belonging  to  a  mufcle, 
it  immediately  lofes  all  power  of  action  ;  and  if  we  cut 
the  artery  which  accompanies  the  nerve,  it  does  the 
fame.  As  therefore  the  blood  is  found  to  receive  Jome- 
iking  from  the  air,  and  as  it  lofes  this  when  pafling 
through  the  arteries,  and  as  the  nerves  lofe  their  power 
when  the  communication  with  the  blood  is  cut  off,  it 
feems  extremely  probable,  that  what  is  imbibed  by  the 
blood  in  the  lungs  is  taken  up  by  the  fine  ramifications 
of  the  nerves,  and  is  no  other  than  the  immediate  prin- 
ciple of  life  and  fenfation.  Thus  we  will  eftablifh  a 
doctrine  directly  oppofite  to  that  commonly  received ; 
for,  inftead  of  fuppofing  that  the  nerves  originate  from 
the  brain,  we  are  now  led  to  fuppofe  that  they  terminate 
in  it.  Inftead  of  fuppofing  that  the  fenfations  originate 
in  the  brain,  we  will  be  led  to  fuppofe  that  every  fenfa- 
tion originates  in  the  organ  appointed  for  that  fenfation. 
Thus  we  are  confcious  that  our  eyes,  not  our  brain,  are 
the  parts  of  our  body  which  immediately  perceive  the 
light  -,  our  fingers,  or  any  other  parts  of  the  body,  feel 
vyhat  is  applied  to  them  -,  and  of  confequence  we  have 

reafon 


86  A   TREATISE    ON 

reafon  to  believe  that  the  animal  fpirits^  nervous  fluid,  or 
whatever  we  pleafe  to  call  it,  proceed  from  the  furface 
of  the  body  inwards  to  the  brain,  not  outwards  from  the 
-brain  to  the  furface  of  the  body.  The  brain  itfelf  feems 
to  refemble  a  large  collection  or  refervoir  of  water,  in 
which  the  fenfations,  like  fo  many  fmall  dreams  from 
every  part  of  the  body,  unite,  and  in  which  our  intellec- 
tual faculties  refide  in  a  manner  totally  inexplicable  by 
us.  Thus  far  it  feerned  neceffary  to  theorife,  in  order 
to  form  fome  idea,  however  obfcured,  of  the  connexion 
between  the  nerves  and  our  fenfitive  and  intellectual,  or, 
if  we  pleafe  to  call  them  fo,  our  fpiritual  faculties. 

21.  In  confequence  of  this  very  intimate  connexion 
between  the  blood  and  nerves,  it  is  eafy  to  fee  that  any 
injury  done  to  the  one  may  very  greatly  affect  the  other  ; 
and  that  a  very  flight,  nay,  to  us  imperceptible,   change 
in  the  organization  of  either,  may  produce  the  moft 
grievous,  and  even   incurable  diforders  throughout  the 
whole  body,  or  in  any  particular  organ.     Let   us  now 
confider  a  little  farther  the  blood-veflels. 

22.  It  hath  been  a  queflion,  whether  in  the  firucture 
of  thefe  veffels  nature  hath  obferved  an  exact  proportion. 
For   inftance,    if  the  blood  paffes  by   a  kind  of  ftarts 
through  four  cavities,  as  we  are  aflured  that  it  does*  it 
feems  natural   to  fuppofe  that  thefe  four  fhould  be  ex- 
actly equal.     This,  however,  hath   been  denied  ,    and 
fome,  from   its  accommodating  the   human   frame  to 
their  theory,  have  fancied  that  they  faw  the  ufe  of  fuch 
difproportionate  work.     Dr.  Huxham  expreffes  himfeli 
in  the  following  words :  "  Nor  doth  the  air  only  refrige- 
"  rate  the  blood,  but,  by  preventing  its  too  great  ebul- 
"  lition,  and  condenfing  it,  hinders  it  from  burfting  the 
"  vefTels.  >  This  indeed  is  of  exceeding  great  importance, 
"  if,  with  the  very  learned  Helvetius,  we  fuppofe  the  capa- 
u  city  of  the  right  ventricle  of  the  heart  to  be  greater 
*'  than  that  of  the  left,  and  that  the  pulmonary  arteries 
<c  are  larger  than  the  correfpondent  veins  ;  for  it  thence 
*{  follows,  that  the  blood  ought  to  be  considerably  con- 
4<  denfed  by  the  infpired  air,  that  an  equal  quantity  of 
"  blood  may  be  received,  in  one  and  the  fame  time,  by 

<k  the 


THE    PLAGUE.  87 

K  the  pulmonary  veins  and  left  ventricle  of  the  heart, 
"that  is  thrown  off  from  the  right  ventricle, .and 
"  through  the  more  capacious  pulmonary  arteries.  This 
"  indeed  many  deny,  afferting  quite  the  contrary.  It  is 
*'  neceffary,  however,  that  the  aorta  mould  receive  as 
"  much  blood  from  the  left  ventricle  of  the  heart,  as  is 
"  thrown  off  from  the  right  ventricle  through  the  pul- 
"  monary  artery  j  and  that  in  the  very  fame  and  equal 
"  time,  or  a  fatal  deluge  would  foon  overwhelm  the 
"  lungs,  becaufe  the  contraction  of  each  ventricle  is 
*'  made  at  one  and  the  fame  time ;  we  always  find 
"  therefore  the  aorta  and  pulmonary  artery,  in  a  natural 
"  ftate,  equal  on  this  account  j  alfo  the  capacity  of  the 
"  ventricles  ought  to  be  equal,  that  they  may  receive, 
"  in  one  and  the  fame  fpace  of  time,  equal  quantities  of 
"  blood,"  &c. 

If  any  thing  farther  is  necefTary  upon  this  fubjeft,  we 
may  ftill  obferve,  that  if  the  blood  were  at  all  condenfed 
by  the  air,  it  would  be  fo  unequally,  becaufe  the  air  is 
at  fome  times  much  colder  than  at  others;  and  thus  the 
difproportion  of  the  cavities  of  the  heart  to  one  another 
could  not  fail  of  producing  the  mod  difagreeable  if  not 
fatal  effects.  We  often  fee  what  terrible  confequences 
enfue  upon  the  enlargement  of  any  part  of  an  artery 
near  the  heart ;  and  thefe  would,  fometimes  at  lead,  be 
felt  by  every  individual.* 

It  is  true,  indeed,  that  this  objection  will  in  fome  de- 
gree hold,  even  though  we  fuppofe  all  the  cavities  of  the 

heart 

*  But  there  is  a  ftill  more  egregious  blunder,  and  this  the  more  furprifing 
as  it  has   been  very  general  among  phyiiologifis,  viz.  that  when  an  artery 
branches  into  two  the  capacity  of  the  branches  taken  together  is   greater  than 
that  ot  the  trunk.     This  would  make  the  whole  arterial  fyftem  one  continued 
tKeurj/M)*  and,   inftead  ot  promoting   the  circulation  of  the  blood,  would  in 
the  moft  effectual  manner  prevent  it.     In  what  manner  an  error  fo  extraordi- 
nary In  its  nature  could  pals  the  mathematical  phylicians  of  the  laft  oenturyt 
I  cannot  imagine;  but  certain  it  is,  that,  in  the  year  1780  or  1781,  the  Edin- 
burgh College  were  fchooied  on  this  iubjedl   by  one  of  their  own  ftudents 
named  John  Theodore  Vander  Kemp,  a  Dutchman.     This  gentleman  foundt 
by  accurate  menfuration,  that  when  an  artery  divides,  if  the  diameters  of  the 
two  branches  are  made  the  two  ihorter  (ides  of  a  right-angled  triangle,  the 
diameter  of  the  trunk  will  be  the  hypothenuie ;  and  thus,  as  the  areas  of  cir- 
cles are  to  one  another  in  proportion  to  thefquares  of  their  diameters,  the  fum 
of  the  areas  of  the  two  branches  will  be  equal  to  the  area  of  the  trunk.     On 
looking  into  Blumenbach's  phyfiology,  1  find  the  fame  remark. 

*  An    aneurifm    is  a  preternatural  enlargement  of  an  artery.     The  blood 
Magnates  in  that  place,  and  at  length  eau  through  the  fldh  and  fltin. 


88  A   TREATISE    Otf 

heart  to  be  equal,  and  the  capacities  of  the  blood  veffefe 
to  be  perfectly  uniform  throughout  the  whole  body. 
For,  if  we  fuppofe  the  blood  to  be  at  all  condenfed  in 
the  lungs  by  the  coldnefs  of  the  atmofphere,  it  muft  un- 
doubtedly follow,  that  while  paffing  from  them  it  occu- 
pies lefs  fpace  than  before  it  arrives  at  them.  Hence 
the  pulmonary  vein,  the  left  auricle  of  the  heart,  the  left 
ventricle,  the  aorta,  and  all  the  reft  of  the  arteries  for  a 
confiderable  way,  muft  be  comparatively  empty,  even 
though  they  receive  as  much  fluid  as  fills  the  vena  ca- 
va,  right  auricle  and  ventricle  of  the  heart,  and  pulmo- 
nary artery.  The  equality  which  ought  to  prevail  In 
the  fyftem,  and  which  indeed  cannot  be  difpenfed  with, 
ean  only  take  place  in  thofe  remoter  branches  of  the  ar- 
teries in  which  the  blood  has  reaffumed  its  former  ftate 
of  dilation  or  rarefaction. 

23.  If  we  confider  this  matter  attentively,  we  fhall 
find  it  not  a  little  myfterious.     Every  time  we  breathe" 
out  the  air  we  have  fucked  into  our  lungs,  a  confiderable 
quantity  of  moift  vapour  is  breathed  out  along  with  it ; 
but  it  has  been  proved  by  undeniable  experiments  that 
the  emiffion  of  aqueous  vapour  from  any  fubftance  cools 
it  in  proportion  to  the    quantity  of  vapour  emitted. 
Every    breath   we  draw,   then,   cools  the  lungs,   and 
confequently  the  blood,  to  a  certain  degree,  and,  as  the 
number  of  times  that  we  breathe  in  a  day  is  exceedingly 
great,  the  cold  produced  by  the  evaporation  ought  to  be 
in  proportion.     But  we  fee  that,  notwithftanding  all  this 
cooling,  whether  we  breathe  cold  air   or  hot  air,   the 
temperature  of  the  body  remains  ftill  the  fame.     The 
air  then,  though  conftantly  carrying  off  the  heat  of  the 
body,  does   not   cool   it  in  the  lead  by  its  action  on  the 
lungs.     The  only  poflible  way  of  folving  this  apparent 
contradiction  is,  by  fuppofing  that  the  air,  when  acting 
upon  the  blood  in  the  lungs,  leaves  precifely  as  much 
heat  as  it  carries  off,  and  therefore,  though  we  breathe 
ever  fo  long,  we  cannot  by  this  means  become  either 
hotter  or  colder. 

24.  To  illuftrate  this  fubjeet,  we  might  now  enter 
into  an  inquiry  concerning   the    origin  and  caufe  of 

animal 


THE   PLAGUE.  89 

£riimal  heat ;  but  this  will  be  touched  upon  hereafter. 
We  (hall  here  only  take  notice  that  the  heat' of  the  body 
is  almoft  univerfally  allowed  to  proceed  from  the  lungs. 
It  has  likewife  been  demonftrated,  that  the  air  does  in 
fact  contain  an  incredible  quantity  of  heat,  even  when  it 
appears  to  us  to  be  extremely  cold.  A  certain  pro^ 
portion  of  this  heat  is  feparated  from  it  every  time  we 
breathe;  and  if,  either  by  the  mixture  of  other  fluids 
with  the  air  we  breathe,  or  by  any  change  in  the  organi- 
zation of  the  body  itfelf,  a  greater  or  fmaller  proportion 
of  heat  (liould  be  communicated  to  the  blood,  difeafe 
muft  enfue. 

25.  To  fum  up  then  what  has  been  faid  concerning 
the  blood  and  nerves :    The  whole  mafs  of  fluid  pafles 
front  the  right  fide  of  the  heart  to  the  lungs.     In  the 
lungs  it  receives  from   the  air  fomething*  neceftary  to 
the  functions  of  life  and  fenfation,  and  purifies  itfelf  from 
thofe  matters  which  might  prove  pernicious.      From 
the   lungs  it  pafles  to   the   left  fide  of  the  heart,  and 
thence  through  the  whole  body.     In  its  paflage  through 
the  body,  it  is  accompanied  with  nerves,  which,  taking 
up  from  the  arterial  blood  that  vital  fpirit  received  from 
the  air,  convey   it  to  all   the  organs  of  motion,  of  fen- 
fation,   and  to  the  brain,  where  the  whole  powers  of 
perception   being  united  form   our  intellectual  faculties* 
and,  as  far  as  our  fenfes  can  perceive,  the  human  fpirit 
itfelf.     The  blood,  thus  deprived  of  its  fpirit,  is  collected 
from   all   parts  of  the  body  by  the  veins,  and  returned 
to  the  right   fide  of  the  heart,  from  whence  it  is  again 
fent  to  the  lungs>  and  the  procefs  carried  on  as  before. 
This  hypothecs  concerning  the  peculiar  function  of  the 
nerves  I  firft  inferred  in  the  ENCYCLOPAEDIA  BRITA'N- 
&ICA,  fecond  edition,  under  thearticle  BLOOD,  in  the  year 
1778.     It   has    been  fince  continued  in  the  third  Scots 
edition,  and    from    thence  into  the  IriQi  and  American 
editions. 

26.  It   has  already  been   obferved,  that  the  body  is 
fubjected   to  a   continual   wafte.     One   fource  of  this 

waftc 

*  It  feems  now  to  be  proved  beyond  a  doubt  that  thisfomet&lrrg  fo  long  un- 
known is  that  fluid  called  by  Dr.  JVieftley  ttefkfogijiicaiit  air,  and  by 
JLavoifier  exygcn. 

N 


9®  A   TREATISE   ON 

wafte  is  the  breath,  by  which  a  confiderable  part  pafles 
off  in  vapour.  A  great  quantity  alfo  pafTes  off  by  the 
pores  of  the  fkin;  frequently  in  a  perceptible  liquid 
called  fweat,  hut  oftener  in  an  inviiible  vapour  from  all 
parts  of  the  body,  called  injenfible  perfpiration.  The  lat- 
ter has  been  thought  to  be  the  great  fource  of  wafte  to 
the  human  body  ;  and  it  is  certain,  that  if  any  perfon  in 
health  be  weighed  when  he  rifes  in  the  morning,  he  will- 
be  found  considerably  lighter  than  when  he  went  to  bed. 
The  lofs  of  weight  in  this  cafe  proceeds  not  only  from 
the  pores  of  the  fkin,  but  from  the  lungs ;  but  though 
phyficians  have  made  a  general  allowance  for  both  thefe, 
I  have  not  heard  of  any  experiment  by  which  we  can 
determine  how  much  paffes  off  by  the  one,  and  how 
much  by  the  other,  nor  indeed  does  it  appear  eafy  to 
make  fuch  an  experiment.  Galen  plainly  overlooks  the 
perfpiration  from  the  lungs  entirely,  "  This  excremen- 
4C  titious  vapour  (fays  he)  is  expelled  through  fmall  ori- 
"  fices,  which  the  Greeks  call  pores,  difperfed  all  over 
"  the  body,  and  efpecially  over  the  fkin,  partly  by  fweat, 
"  and  partly  by  infeniible  perfpiration,  which  efcapes 
cc  the  fight,  and  is  known  to  few."  Sanctorius,  and  the 
fucceeding  writers,  have  clafled  both  together  indifcri- 
minately ;  allowing  the  difcharge  to  be  ib  great,  that  if 
eight  pounds  of  aliment  be  taken  in,  five  of  them  pafs 
off  in  this  manner.  In  a  fyftem  of  anatomy,  publifhed 
at  Edinburgh  in  1791,  the  author  fays,  that  the  dif- 
charge by  the  fkin  "  is  even  much  larger  than  this  (the 
"  difcharge  from  the  lungs  we  may  fuppofe)  iince  it 
5<  not  only  throws  off  a  quantity  of  the  aliment,  but 
<c  likewife  what  is  added  to  the  blood  by  inhalation^ 
*c  which,  entering  often  in  a  very  confiderable  quantity, 
"  is  thus  again  expelled/*  The  fame  author  likewife 
fays,  that  the  "  perfpirable  matter  from  the  fkin  is  prin- 
cipally water,'*'  and  that  it  iffues  in  fuch  quantity  as  to 
be  feen  in  fubterraneous  caverns  evidently  flying  off 
from  the  furface  of  the  body  like  a  denfe  vapour.  But 
other  phyfiologifls,  particularly  Dr.  Blumenbach,  inform 
BS,  that  the  matter  of  infenfible  perfpiration  is  quite 
&rnilar  to  the  difeharge  from  the  lungs,  particularly  con- 
taining 


THE    PLAGUE.  91 

taining  a  great  quantity  of  fixed  air.  The  fame  ac- 
count is  given  'in  Chaptal's  chemiftry,  on  the  authority 
of  MeiTrs.  Milly  and  Fouquet.  This  may  be  looked  upon 
as  a  valuable  difcovery,  efpecially  in  conjunct  »on  with 
that  related  by  Drs.  Beddoes  and  Girtanner,  viz.  that 
the  flefh  of  animals  contains  a  quantity  of  oxygen.  Dr. 
Girtanner  obtained  a  quantity  of  this  air  from  the  raw 
flefti  of  animals,  and  fays  that  it  may  be  repeatedly  ob- 
tained by  expofing  the  flefh  to  the  atmofphere,  and 
diftilling  with  a  heat  of  60  or  70  degrees  of  Reaumur's 
thermometer  (fomething  below  that  of  boiling  water.) 
Hence  it  is  natural  to  conclude,  that,  as  the  difcharge 
from  the  lungs  purifies  the  blood  from  its  ufelefs  parts, 
fo  does  the  infenfible  difcharge  from  the  ikin  purify  the 
folid  parts  from  thofe  particles  which  are  no  longer  ufe- 
ful.  The  probability  of  this  alfo  becomes  greater  by 
considering,  that  in  difeafes,  when  the  quantity  of  mat- 
ter to  be  thrown  off  is  very  great,  the  ikm  becomes  foul, 
the  teeth  furred  with  black  fordes,  &c.  all  which  difap- 
pear  as  foon  as  the  quantity  of  the  offenfive  particles  is 
reduced  to  its  natural  ftandard.  As  to  any  confiderable 
quantity  of  aqueous  vapour  being  difcharged  this  way, 
unlefs  in  cafe  of  fweat,  it  does  not  feem  probable ;  for 
in  fueh  a  cafe  our  clothes  would  always  be  moift ;  and 
in  the  night  time  the  accu.  illation  of  moifture  would 
certainly  be  perceptible.  The  fw°,at  is  entirely  of  a  dif- 
ferent nature  from  the  infenfible  perfu ration,  and  blood 
and  even  fand  has  been  known  to  iliue  throu? *  the  ikin 
along  with  it.  (See  the  Anatomical  Syftem  above  quoted.) 
27.  This  very  confiderable  wafle  of  the  body  is  re- 
paired by  the  aliment  taken  into  the  ftomach.  ?<  the 
mouth  it  is  mixed  with  a  confiderabie  quantity  of 
the  liquid  called  fativa,  and  in  the  ftomach  with  another 
called  the  gaflric  juice,  wth  which  that  organ  always 
abounds.  From  tha  ftomach  it  pafTes  into  the  intef- 
tines,' where  it  is  mixed  A  ith  other  two  fluids ;  one  called 
the  pane reatic  juice,  the  other  the  bile.  This  laft  is  of  a 
yellow  colour,  and  i^  ibmetimes  produced  in  enormous 
quantities,  infomuca  that  Dr.  Wade,  in  his  account 
$f  the  fevers  in  Bengal,  mentions  fome  patients  who 

have 


9*  A   TREATISE    ON 

have  voided  by   ftool  half  a  gallon  of  bilious  matter 
In  one  day. 

28.  In  the  ftomach  principally  the  aliment  undergoes 
a  certain  change  called  digeftion\  by  which  it  becomes 
capable  of  being  converted  into  the  fubftance  of  the 
body.     Much  has  been  inquired  and  difputed,  to  no 
purpofe,  about  the  nature  of  this  change,  and  how  it  is 
effected.     One  party  has  declared  for  attrition  ;  a  fecond 
for  putrefaction  ;  a  third  for  heat  ;  a  fourth  have  fuppofed 
that  our  meat  was  digefted  by  chewing  ;    as  if,  like  the 
lobfter,  people  had  teeth  in  their  ftomach  !    and,  laftly, 
fome   learned  moderns,  after  much  pains   and  trouble, 
liave  found   out  that   it  is  digefted   by  Jolution.     Dr. 
Moore  has  fummed  up  the  difcoveries  concerning  digeftion 
in  the  following  words  :    "  The  food,  being  previoufly 
"  divided  and  blended  with  the  faliva  and  air  by  mafti- 
"  cation,  (chewing)  is  fwallowed,  and  meets  in  the  fto- 
*c  mach  with  the  gaftric  juice,  whpfe  diilblving  power, 
*'  affifted  by  the  natural  heat  of  the  place,  is  the  princi- 
<c  pal  agent  in  digeftion.     The  procefs  is  completed  by 
«  the  pancreatic  juice  and  bile,  the  nutritious  parts  of 
<*  the  food  being  by  this  procefs  converted  into  chyle 
"  for  the  fupport  of  the   body,  and  the  grolTer  parts 
*c  thrown  out/* 

29.  The  infide  of  the  ftomach  and  inteftines  are  full 
of  the  mouths  of  innumerable  fmall  veffels,  which  con- 
tinually fuck  up  from  the  aliment,  as  it  pafles  downwards, 
the  finer  parts,  in  form  of  a  white  liquid,  called  chyle  > 
and  from  the  whitenefs  of  their  colour  the  veflels  have 
the  name  of  la£lealsy  from  the  Latin  word  lac^   milk. 
After  paffing  through  the  fubftance  of  the  ftomach  and 
inteftines,  and  running  along  the  membrane  called  the 
trtefentery,  to  which  the  inteftines  are  attached,  the  lac- 
teals  unite  in   a  large  refervoir  called  the  thoracic  du5l ; 
and  this  again  opens  into  a  large  vein  on  the  left  fide, 
called  \\vt  fubclavian,  which  conveys  the  blood  from  half 
the  upper  part  of  the  body  ;   foon  after  terminating  in 
the  vena  cava,  by  which  the  chyle  is  conveyed  to  the 
heart,  thence  to  the  lungs,  and  fo  on  in  the  common 

courfe 

*  Moore's  Medical  Sketches. 


THE   PLAGUE.  93 

£ourfe  of  circulation.     The  converflon  of  the  chyle  into 
biood  is  called  the  procefs  of  fangulfication. 

30.  The  blood,  thus  formed  out  of  the  aliment  we 
fwallo\#,  is  not  one  uniform  fluid  like  water,  but  com- 
pofed  of  three  diftincl:  fubftances ;    one,  which  gives  it 
the  red  colour,  and  feems  to  be  compofed  of  little  round 
globules ;  another,  quite  colourlefs,  but  of  a  vifcid  na- 
ture, and  which  very  foon  coagulates,  called  the  lymph ; 
and  a  third,  of  a  yellowifh  colour,  and  retaining  its  flu- 
idity much  longer,  called  the  ferum.     A    remarkable 
property  of  this  laft  fluid  is,  that  air  can  act  through  it 
upon  the  blood  -,  for  Dr.  Prieftly  found  that  a  portion 
of  black  blood  affuifled  a  bright,  florid  colour  from  the 
air,   even  though    covered  with   ferum  an  inch   deep. 
When  blood  is  drawn,  the  red  globules  are  detained  by 
the  lymph  which  coagulates,  a«d  both  together  form 
the  red  mafs  called  crafjamentum ;  the  ferum  remaining 
fluid,  and  retaining  its  name. 

31.  Befides  thefe  fluids,  the  blood  either  invifibly 
contains,  or  is  capable  of  being  converted  into,  a  great 
many  others  -,  for  all  the  fluids  in  the  body  are  feparated 
from  it,  and  all  of  them,  the  bile  only  excepted,  front 
the  arterial  blood,  before  it  has  loft  that  portion   of  its 
fpirit  which  it  imbibes  from  the  air.     When  a  fluid  is 
to  be  fecreted,  fometimes  it  is  done  only  by  an  infinity 
of  fmall  veflels  branching  off  from  the  arteries,  and  de- 
pofiting  the  liquids  which  pafs  through  them  in  particu- 
lar places  ;  and  fuch  are  the  fluids  which   moiflen  the 
infide  of  the  body,  and  which  are  carried  off  by  the 
breath,  or  by  fweat.     But  this  feparation  does  not  by 
any  means  hinder  the  artery  from  terminating  in  its  ufual 
way  in  a  vein,  for  in  no  cafe  is  the  whole  fubftance  of 
the  bJood  converted  into  any  other  liquid  ;   all  of  them 
appear  to  be  contained  in  it..     But  the  greateft  number 
of  fluids  are  feparated   by   means  of  certain   fubftances 
called  glands.     Thefe  are  fmall  round   or  oval  fhaped 
bodies;  each  of  them  enclofed  in  a  membrane  or  fkin 
which  feparates   it  from   the  other  parts,  and  each  fur- 
niilied  with  a  fmall  tube  called  the  excretory  duft,  through 
which  the  liquor  feparated  in  the  gland  paffes  to  its 

place 


94  A    TREATISE    ON 

place  of  deftination.  Each  gland  has  aifo  an  artery  and! 
nerve,  and  a  vein  to  bring  back  the  blood  after  it  has 
parted  with  the  fluid  intended  to  be  feparated.  The 
bile  is  feparated  in  the  liver  from  the  Blood  of  a  large 
vein  called  the  vena  portarum,  formed  by  the  union  of 
feme  of  the  veins  of  the  inteftines  and  mefentery.  This 
vein  branches  out  through  the  liver  like  an  artery,  termi- 
nating in  other  veins,  wijich  at  laft  bring  back  the  bloo<J 
to  the  heart. 

32.  As  the  human  body  5s  thus  furnifhed  with  an 
apparatus  for  feparating  and  carrying  off,  it  is  alfo  fur- 
BiQied  with  one  for  abforbing  or  taking  in.  All  the 
inward  parts  of  the  body  are  moift ;  and  the  moifture  is 
furnilhed  by  the  fin  a  11  veffels  above  defcribed,  and 
which  feparate  part  of  the  lymph  from  the  blood.  By 
foch  continual  ieparatjon  the  cavities  of  the  belly, 
bread,  brain,  &c.  would  foon  be  filled  with  liquid,  were 
not  fome  means  provided  for  carrying  it  off  as  fafl  as  it 
is  formed.  The  means  in  queftion  are  a  fet  of  final! 
veffels  called  lymphatics.  Thefe  "  arife  from  the  internal 
**  furface  of  the  bread,  beily,  and  every  cavity  of  the 
"  body  -,  they  alfo  pverfpread  the  whole  external  furfacc 
tc  of  the  body,  and  large  lymphatic  veffels  are  uiuallj 
ts  found  clofe  to  the  large  blood  veffels  of  the  extrerm- 
"  ties,  befidcs  thofe  fmall  fuperficial  ones  which  lie 
£i  above  the  rnufcles  in  the  cellular  membrane  (the  fat 
vc  or  rather  the  membrane  containing  it.)  The  large 
'**  vifcera  generally  have  two  fets  of  lymphatics,  one 
"  lying  on  the  furface  of  the  vifcus,  and  the  other 
*c  accompanying  the  blood  veffels  belonging  to  it.  The 
-  faculty  of  abforption,  though  refu fed  to  the  lymphatics, 
"  was  afcribed  by  many  anatomifts  to  common  veins, 
"  and  this  opinion  continued  to  prevail  in  fome  degree, 
*'  until  Hunter  and  Monro  totally  overturned  it, 
"  exploding  at  the  fame  time  the  notion  that  any  of  the 
*c  lymphatics  are  continuations  of  arteries,  and  efUblifh- 
^  ing,  beyond  a  doubt,  that  all  are  abforbent  veffels."* 
All  the  lymphatics  terminate  in  the  thoracic  duel:  ;  fo 
the  liquid  feparated  by  the  exhalant  arteries  (fo  the 

veffel$ 

*  ^core's  Medical  Sketches, 


THE   PLAGUE.  $$ 

Veflels  are  termed  by  which  that  fluid  is  feparated)  is 
again  mixed  with  the  blood,  and  again  performs  the 
fame  offices. 

We'  have  now  taken  a  review  of  the  feveral  parts  of  . 
the  human  body,  flight  and  fuperficial  indeed,  but  fucii 
as  the  limits  of  this  work  would  allow,  and  fufficient  to 
furnidi  to  thofe  entirely  unacquainted  with  medical 
matters  forne  general  ideas  on  the  fubj^ft.  We  have 
feen  that  the  body,  in  general,  confifts  principally  of 
four  great  parts,  the  blood-veflcls,  the  lymphatic  veflfels, 
the  nerves,  and  the  mufcles.  Befides  thefe  we  enumerate 
the  glands  and  membranes ;  the  former  being  nearly 
allied  to  the  blood-veflels,  the  latter  apparently  to  the  nerves. 
The  bones,  having  no  concern  with  our  prefent  inquiry,  are 
Bot  taken  notice  of.  The  flomach  and  inteftines,  being 
principally  compofed  of  mufcular  fibres,  nerves,  and 
blood-veflels,  muft  be  confidered  as  belonging  to  thefe 
departments.  Each  of  thefe  large  divilions  has  obtained 
the  name  of  fyftem  ;  and  even  the  fubdivifion  of  the 
blood-veflels  into  arteries  and  veins.  Thus  the  arteries 
of  the  body,  taken  collectively,  are  called  the  arterial  fyf- 
tem ;  the  veins  the  venous  fyftem ;  the  brain  and  nerves  the 
nervous  fyftem ;  the  mufcles  the  mufcular  jyftem ;  the  lympha- 
tics the  lymphatic  fyftem ;  and  the  glands  t\~\e glandular  fyftem ; 
&c.  Thefe  appellations  have  been  given  for  the  fake  of  dif- 
tindlnefs  and  perfpicuity,  but  they  have  had  a  bad  ten- 
dency. Infignificant  difputes  have  arifen  concerning  the 
fuperiority  of  one  fyftem  to  the  other,  and  which  is  to  be 
accounted  the  primum  mobile  of.  the  body.  By  obferving 
alfo  the  general  ftrudure  of  the  body  in  a  more  full  and 
ample  manner  than  that  of  the  parts  which  compofe  it, 
phyfkians  have  been  apt  to  generalize  too  much  in  their 
theories,  and  to  fancy  that  from  a  few  obvious  laws  they 
might  be  able  to  explain  the  phenomena  of  difeafe  in 
alfnoft  every  poflible  variety.  To  illuftrate  this,  let  us 
take  the  blood  for  an  example.  This  to  fight  appears 
an  homogeneous  fluid  ;  and  Boerlriave  and  others  have 
afcribed  difeafes  to  fome  defedt  or  bad  quality  of  the 
blood.  But  this  fluid  confifts  of  three  parts,  each,  as  far 
as  we  can  perceive,  eflentially  diftinft  from  the  other  -g 

viz. 


96  A   TREATISE    ON 

viz.  the  lymph,  ferum,  and  red  globules.  As  each  of 
thefe  happens  to  be  difeafed,  the  cure  muft  be  different ; 
or  if  two  happen  to  be  difeafed,  the  medicines  muft  ftill 
be  varied.  But,  befides  thefe  general  difeafes  ariiing 
from  what,  like  the  blood,  is  common  to  the  whole 
body,  each  component  part  of  the  body  has  an  arterial 
fyflem,  a  venous  fyftem,  a  nervous  and  lymphatic 
fyftem,  &c.  belonging  to  itfelf ;  all  of  which,  though 
dependent  on  the  body  at  large,  have  yet  laws  of  their 
own,  in  confequence  of  which  any  one  of  them  may  be 
confiderably  difeafed  without  much  affecting  the  general 
fyftem  ;  and  this  conftitutes  what  is  called  local  difeafe. 
Again  :  The  parts  of  the  body  are  fo  connected  with 
one  another,  that  the  difeafe  of  one  may  mow  itfelf  in 
another  ;  or  it  may  affect  the  whole  body  in  fuch  a 
manner  as  to  produce  a  general  difeafe  j  though  Dr. 
Rufh  confiders  this  laft,  at  leail  from  injuries  of  the 
vifcera,  as  a  rare  occurrence  ;*  but  we  certainly  know 
that  general  difeafes  are  very  often  followed  by  evident 
difeafes  of  particular  organs ,  and  in  thefe  cafes  it  is  im- 
poflible  to  fay  whether  the  general  difeafe  did  not  begin, 
though  imperceptible  to  us,  in  that  very  organ  in  which 
we  fuppofe  it  to  terminate  when  the  local  difeafe  was 
come  to  fuch  an  height  as  to  be  evident  to  our  fenfes. 
In  fome  cafes  it  is  plain  that  local  injuries  will  bring  on 
mod  violent  difeafes  of  the  whole  fyftem.  Thus  a  local 
inflammation  of  the  end  of  one  of  the  fingers,  by  phy- 
ficians  called  a  paronyehia^  has  been  known  to  induce  a 
rnoft  violent  fever,  nay,  even  to  occafion  death.  Thefe 
violent  fymptoms  end  as  foon  as  the  fuppuratiorj  is 
completed  ;  fo  that,  were  it  not  for  the  exceflive  pain  of 
the  inflammation,  we  might  be  apt  to  fuppofe  that  the 
fever  terminated  in  the  fuppuration,  whereas  it  evi- 
dently was  occafioned  by  the  local  difeafe,  or  the  ten- 
dency of  the  part  to  fuppurate  ;  the  pain  and  inflam- 
mation being  neceflary  preliminaries.  Again  :  When 
an  intermittent  fever  is  (aid  to  terminate,  or  to  be  fol- 
lowed, by  a  hardnefs  of  the  liver,  we  do  not  certainly 
know  whether  an  original  difeafe  of  the  liver  might  not 

have 

*  Medical  Isquiries  and  Obfervatrons,  vol.  ivi  p.  133- 


THE    PLAGUE.  97 

have  been  the  caufe  of  the  intermittent.  From  a  con- 
lideration  of  all  thefe  things,  viz.  the  extreme  diverfity 
of  parts  which  compofe  the  human  body,  the  ultimate 
invifibility.of  the  ftrudure  of  each,  the  incomprehenfible 
manner  in  which  they  are  united,  the  equally  inccmpre- 
henfible  dependence  they  have  upon  one  another  in  fome 
cafes,  and  independence  in  others,  the  numerous  laws  by 
which  they  are  governed,  and  which  muft  be  very  much 
unknown  to  us,  the  invifible  and  incomprehenfible  nature 
of  the  powers  which  ad  upon  them,  &c.  &c.  1  fay, 
when  we  coniider  all  thefe  things,  the  boldeft  theorifb 
muft  be  humbled  when  he  attempts  to  account  for  the 
phenomena  of  difeafe  in  any  one  inftance.  The  excsf- 
five  difficulty  in  which  we  are  involved  is  beautifully 
defcribed  by  Dr.  Ferriar  when  fpeaking  of  hyfterics ; 
and  obftacles  equally  infuperable  by  our  theories  will 
undoubtedly  be  met  with  in  any  other  diftemper. 
"  We  are  ignorant  (fays  he)  by  what  laws  the  body  pof- 
"  feffes  a  power  of  reprefenting  the  moft  hazardous  dif- 
"  orders,  without  incurring  danger ;  of  counterfeiting 
'*  the  greateft  derangement  in  the  circulating  fyftem, 
"  without  materially  altering  its  movements ;  of  produ- 
"  cing  madnefs,  confcious  of  its  extravagances;  and  of 
"  increafing  the  acutenefs  of  fenfation  by  oppreffing  the 
"  common  fenforium.  In  hyfterical  affedlions  all  thefe 
"  appearances  are  excited,  which  are  incompatible  with. 
"  the  reafonings  of  every  fyftem-maker  who  has  yet  en- 
**  deavoured  to  explain  the  inexplicable.  Nature,  as  if 
"  in  ridicule  of  the  attempts  to  unmafk  her,  has,  in  this 
;<  clafsof  difeafes,  reconciled  contradictions,  and  realized 
"  improbabilities,  with  a  myflerious  verfatility,  which. 
"  infpirts  the  true  philofopher  with  diffidence,  and  re- 
<£  duces  the  fyftematic  to  defpair." 

Notwithftaading  all  thefe  difficulties,  however,  phy- 
ficians  have  theorifed,  and  that  with  fuch  animofity,  as 
if  all  the  arcana  of  nature  had  been  laid  open  to  every 
proferTor  who  thought  proper  to  invent  or  new-model  a 
lyftein ;  though  the  conftant  fucceflion  of  theories 
might  certainly  have  fliowa  them  the  vanity  of  fuch 
attempts.  Some  of  thefe  we  muft  now  confider. 

O  JMedical 


98  A    TREATISE    ON 

Medical  theorifts  have  exerted  their  greateft  abilities* 
in  explaining  the  nature  of  thofe  general  difeafes  affect- 
ing  the  whole  body,  denominated  fevers;  and  which 
are  likewife  called  acute  difeafes,  from  the  violence  with 
which  they  fometimes  attack,  and  the  rapidity  with 
which  they  run  through  their  courfe.  Dr.  Fordyce 
fays,  that  fever  will  fometimes  kill  in  five  minutes  from 
the  firft  fenfation  of  uneafinefs.  Ancient  phyficians 
have  defcribed  a  number  of  fevers,  which  they  fuppofed 
to  be  of  different  fpecies,  and  accordingly  have  diflin- 
guifhed  by  different  names.  Modern  fyftem-makers 
have  added  to  the  number  ;  fo  that  a  bare  detail  of 
the  names  which  they  have  given  to  their  divilions  and 
fubdiviiions,  would  conftitute  a  very  formidable  cata- 
logue -,  but  the  lateft  practitioners  are  decidedly  of 
opinion  that  there  is  but  one  kind  of  fever,  varying  it- 
felf  according  to  circumftances.  Dr.  Rum  declares 
himfelf  of  this  opinion  in  the  mofl  exprefs  and  positive 
terms.  "  There  is  (fays  he)  but  one  fever.  However 
"  different  the  predifpofing,  remote  or  exciting  caufes 
<c  may  be,  ....  ftiJl,  I  repeat,  there  can  be  but  one 
**  fever  .....  Thus  fire  is  an  unit,  whether  it  be  pro- 
"  duced  by  friction,  percuffion,  electricity,  fermentation, 
G£  or  by  a  piece  of  wood  or  coal  in  a  flate  of  inflam- 
"  mation."* 

"  I  have  faid  that  there  is  but  one  fever.  Of  courfe 
"  I  do  not  admit  of  its  artificial  divifion  into  genera 
"  and  fpecies  ;  a  difeafe  which  fo  frequently  changes 
"  its  form  and  place,  fhould  never  have  been  defignated, 
*{  like  plants  and  animals,  by  unchangeable  characters. 
"  .  .  .  .  Much  mifchiefhas  been  done  by  nofological 
"  arrangements  of  difeafes.  They  erect  imaginary 
<c  boundaries  between  things  which  are  of  an  homo- 
geneous  nature  .....  They  gratify  indolence  in  a 
phyiician,  by  fixing  his  attention  upon  the  name  of  a 
difeafe,  and  thereby  leading  him  to  neglect  the  vary- 
<c  ing  (tare  of  the  fyftem,  &c."f 

So  much  then  having  been  faid  and  written  upon  the 
difeafe  in  queftion,  one  might  be  apt  to  fuppofe  that  the 

nature 

?  Vol.  iv»  p.  133.  t  Ibid.  p.  149. 


" 


THE   PLAGUE.  99 

nature  of  fever  would  have  been  thoroughly  inveftigated, 
and  its  caufes  explained  in  the  moft  fatisfactory  manner, 
long  before  this  time.  Inftead  of  this,  however,  we  find 
it  ftill  like  a  word  which  every  body  ufes,  and  nobody 
underftands.  Dr.  Fordyce,  who  has  lately  written  a 
treatife  on  the  fubject,  endeavours  to  prove  that  there 
is  not  any  fingle  fymptom  from  the  exiflence  of  which 
we  can  certainly  determine  the  prefence  of  this  difeafe. 
"  Fever  (fays  he)  has  obtained  its  name  in  Greek,  Latin, 
"  Arabic  and  Perfian,  principally  from  the  idea  of  heat : 
"  pur,  in  Greek  fire;  febris  in  Latin,  from  fervere,  to 
"  burn,"  &c.  This  idea,  he  goes  on  to  demonftrate,  is 
erroneous ;  as  the  body  of  a  feverifh  patient  frequently 
finks  the  thermometer  below  the  natural  ftandard  ;  while 
the  patient  fometimes  finds  himfelf  cold  when  the  ther- 
mometer (hows  him  to  be  really  hot,  and  hot  while  the 
fame  inftrument  (hows  him  to  be  cold.  Neither  is  cold, 
followed  by  heat,  a  certain  indication  of  the  prefence  of 
fever,  as  many  fevers  begin  without  any  previous  fenfa- 
tion  of  cold.  Frequency  of  the  pulfe  alfo  is  no  certain 
fign  ;  and  having  difculTed  this  laft  fymptom  he  con- 
cludes thus.  "  If  we  examine  the  reftleffnefs,  anxiety, 
"{late  of  the  tongue,  head-ach,  or  any  other  of  the 
"  fymptoms  which  often  take  place  in  fever,  we  ihall 
"  find  that  they  alfo  may  be  prefent  when  there  is  no 
"  fever,  and  abfent  in  a  patient  afflicted  with  this  difeafe; 
*6  and  therefore  we  cannot  allow  that  there  isanypatho- 
|C  gnomic  fymptom  of  fever."*  Dr.  Rufh  declines  giving 
any  definition  of  fever  ;-f  but,  with  all  due  deference  to 
thefe  two  very  experienced  phyficians,  we  muft  account 
fuch  extreme  fcepticifm  altogether  erroneous.  If  fever 
cannot  be  defined,  it  cannot  be  defcribed  ;  for  a  defini- 
tion is  no  other  than  a  fhort  defcription.  If  again  there 
be  no  fingle  fymptom  by  which  the  prefence  of  fever  can 
be  known,  it  is  impoffible  that  there  can  be  any  com* 
bination  by  which  it  can  be  known,  any  more  than  we 
can  form  an  unit  by  any  combination  of  cyphers.  In 
fact  Dr.  Fordyce  himfelf  is  at  laft  obliged  to  acknow- 
ledge 

*  A  Patbognomic  fymptom  is  one  which  being  prefent  certainly  indicates  the 
prefence  of  a  difeafe,  and  being  abfenti  the  contrary, 
t  Vol.  iv>  p.  133. 


ioo  A    TREATISE    ON 

ledge  that  there  is  a  certain  fymptom  with  which  fever  gene- 
rally  begins ;  and,  by  his  infiftingupon  it  in  various  parts  of 
the  work,  we  muft  certainly  be  induced  to  fuppoie  that 
it  was  by  this  fign  principally  that  he  determined  whether 
his  patients  had  a  fever  or  not.  "  The  firft  appear- 
"  ance  (fays  he)  which  generally  takes  place  is  uneafinefs 
<c  and  reftieffnefsj  a  general  uneafinefs,  the  patient  feel- 
cc  ing  himfelf  ill,  but  incapable  of  fixing  on  any  particular 
"  part  of  the  body.  This  uneafinefs  affects  the  mind 
*'  at  the  fame  time.  Perhaps  m  this  cafe  it  is  the  mind 

*e  that  is  firft  affected Along  with  this  uneafinefs 

<c  there  is  a  reftleffhefs,  the  patient  wifhing  to  change 
<c  his  place  or  pofture  frequently  ;  the  mind  cannot  like- 
*'  wife  reft  upon  one  object ;  it  often  wanders  from  one 
"  to  another  fubject.  At  the  fame  time  there  is  a  feel 
*c  of  wearinefs  which  refifts  the  difpofition  in  the  patient 
<c  to  change  his  place  and  pofture,  and  refifts  the  dif- 
<{  pofition  of  the  mind  to  alter  the  object  of  its  atten- 
"  tion,  rendering  the  wifh  for  fuch  changes  ineffectual. 
<c  With  thefe  arifes  an  actual  inability  of  exerting  the 
"  mufcular  powers,  or  performing  any  of  the  functions 
<c  of  the  body  ;  and  alfo  an  a&ual  inability  of  exercifing 
<e  the  great  faculties  of  the  mind,  the  powers  of  percep- 
"  tion,  memory,  arrangement  of  ideas,  and  of  the  judg- 
"  ment,  in  the  fame  degree  that  they  exifted  in  health. 
*c  The  degree  in  which  thefe  take  place  is  extremely 
"  different  in  the  attacks  o£ different  fevers  ;  but  thefe 
**  appearances  are  very  rarely  abfent,  although  indeed 
"  they  may  alfo  happen  in  other  difeafes." 

Dr.  Rum  accounts  the  laffitude  with  which  fever 
begins,  one  of  the  tranfient  phenomena  of  it ;  and  this 
with  other  phenomena  he  calls  fymptoms.  Such  as  are 
more  permanent  and  fixed,  and  which  by  other  writers 
have  been  reckoned  different  fpecies,  he  calls  Jtates-9 
and  of  thefe  he  enumerates  forty.  Such  as  have  any 
relation  to  the  plague  are  as  follow. 

i.  The  MALIGNANT  ftate,  known  by  attacking  fre- 
quently without  a  chilly  fit,  is  attended  with  coma,  a 
depreffid,  flow  or  intermitting  pulfe,  and  fometimes  by 

a  natural  temperature  or  coldnefs  of  the  fkin 

This 


THE    PLAGUE.  xoi 

This  depreffed  ftate  of  fever  more  frequently  when  left 
to  itfelf  terminates  in  petechia?,  buboes,  carbuncles, 
abfcefTes  and  mortifications,  according  as  the  ferum, 
lymph,  or  red  blood,  is  effufed  in  the  vifcera  or  external 
parts  of  the  body. 

2.  The  SYNOCHA,  or  common  inflammatory  ftate ; 
attacking  fuddenly  with  chills,  fucceeded  by  a  quick, 
frequent  and  tenfe  pulfe,  great  heat,  third,  and  pains  in 
the  bones,  joints,  breaft  or  fides. 

3.  The  BILIOUS  ftate  of  fever  j  known  by  a  full,  quick 
and  tenfe  pulfe,  or  by  a  quick,  full  and  round  pulfe 
without  tenfion,  and  by  a  difcharge  of  green,  dark  co- 
loured  or  black  bile  from   the  ftomach  and  bowels. 
This  ftate  fometimes  alTumes  the  form  of  an  hedlic ; 
the  patient  feels  no  pain  in  his  head,  has  a  tolerable  ap- 
petite, and  is  even  able  to  fit  up  and  do  bufinefs. 

4.  The  TYPHUS  ftate;  known  by  a  weak  and  frequent 
pulfe,  a  difpofition  to  fleep,  a  torpor  of  the  alimentary 
canal,  tremors  of  the  hands,  a  dry  tongue,  and,  in  fome 
inftances,  a  diarrhoea.     Sometimes  it  affumes  fymptoms 
of  fynocha  on  the  eleventh,  fourteenth,  and  even  twen- 
tieth days.     The  common  name  of  this  ftate  is  the 
nervous  fever. 

5.  Intermiflions,   or  the  INTERMITTING   and   RE- 
MITTING ftates,  occur  moft  diftindly  and  univerfally  in 
thofe  which  partake  of  the  bilious  diathefis. 

6.  The   SWEATING   ftate  occurs   not  only   in  the 
plague,   but  in  the   yellow  fever,  fmall  pox,  pleurify, 
rheumatifm,  hectic  and  intermitting  ftates. 

7.  The  FAINTING  ftate;  occurring  in  the  plague,  yel- 
low fever,  fmall  pox,  and  fome  ftates  of  pleurify. 

8.  The  BURNING  ftate.     This  is  attended  not  only 
with  an  intolerable  fenfation  of  heat  in  the  bowels,  but 
with  a  burning  fenfation.  excited  in  thofe  who  touch  the 
patient's  ikin.     It  occurs  moftly  in  the  remitting  fevers 
of  Afia. 

9.  The  CHILLY  ftate  differs  from  a  common  chilly 
fit  by  continuing  four  or  five  days,  and  to  fuch  a  degree 
that  the  patient  frequently  cannot  bear  his  arms  out  of 
bed.     The  coldnefs  is  moft  obftinate  in  the  hands  and 

feet. 


ioz  A    TREATISE    ON 

feet.     A  coolnefs  only  of  the  fkin  attends  in  fome  cafes, 
which  is  frequently  miftaken  for  an  abfence  of  fever. 

10.  The  INTESTINAL  ftate  ;  including  the  cholera 
morbus,  diarrhoea,  and  cholic. 

11,  12,   13,14,  15-    The  APOPLECTIC,   PHRENETIC, 
PARALYTIC,  LETHARGIC  and  VERTIGINOUS  ftateS. 

1 6.  The  ERUPTIVE  ftate ;  including  the  fmall  pox, 
mealies,  and  other  exanthemata  of  Dr.  Cullen. 

17.  The  H-^MORRHAGIC  ftate;  known  by  fluxes  of 
blood  from  various  parts  of  the  body. 

1 8.  The  CONVULSIVE  or  SPASMODIC  ftate.     Con- 
vulfions  are  frequently  attendant  on  the  malignant  ftate 
of  fever. 

19.  The   CUTANEOUS  ftate;  attended  with  various 
eruptions  on  the  fkin,  particularly  peteckia. 

Theft  include  the  moft  remarkable  varieties  defcribed 
by  phylicians  as  different  fpecies.  From  the  fubfequent 
account  of  the  fymptoms  of  the  plague,  it  will  appear 
that  this  (ingle  diftemper  monopolifes,  as  it  were,  the 
fymptoms,  at  lead  the  moft  dangerous  and  terrible,  be- 
longing to  them  all,  Thofe  nofologifts  therefore  who 
fuppofe  the  ftates  of  fever  above  defcribed  to  be  different 
fpecies,  inftead  of  faying  that  the  plague  belongs  to  one' 
Jcind  of  fever,  ought  to  fay  that  it  is  a  complication  of  a 
great  many  different  kinds.  But  here  a  queftion  arifes : 
Do  all  the  varieties  of  fever  juft  now  defcribed,  or  do  all 
the  other  fevers  defcribed  by  different  authors,  include 
all  the  different  modes  by  which  the  plague  makes  its 
attack  ?  If  fo,  then  we  know  that  the  plague  really 
partakes  of  the  nature  of  fever,  or  may  be  accounted 
the  higheft  degree  of  it.  This  is  the  opinion  of  Dr. 
Rum ;  for  in  his  4th  vol.  p.  153,  he  confiders  the 
different  inflammatory  ftates  of  fever,  according  to  their 
ftrength,  in  the  following  order,  i.  The  plague.  2. 
The  yellow  fever.  3.  The  natural  fmall  pox.  4.  The 
malignant  fore  throat,  &c.  To  this  I  can  have  but 
one  objection,  and  to  me  it  appears  infuperable ;  viz. 
that  the  plague  frequently  deftroys  without  any  fymp- 
toni  of  fever;  and,  if  fo,  we  muft  certainly  account 
it  a  diftemper  of  another  kind.  To  decide  this 

matter, 


THE    PLAGUE,  103 

matter,  let  us  compare  the  fymptoms  of  the  mod  vio- 
lent fever  with  what  happens  in  times  of  violent  pefti- 
lence.  We  can  fcarce  imagine  a  fever  more  powerful 
than  that  which  deftroys  in  five  minutes,  and  the  follow- 
ing is  the  defcription  of  it  from  Dr.  Fordyce.  "  When 
*c  the  firft  attack  of  fever  has  been  fatal,  it  has  been 
"  claffed  among  fudden  deaths,  and  all  of  thefe  have 
"  been  very  erroneously  called  apoplexy,  or  fyncopy 
"  (fainting.)  ....  When  the  attack  is  fatal,  it  fometimes 
*c  kills  in  five  minutes,  fometimes  it  requires  half  an 
*£  hour,  feldom  longer  than  that  time.  While  the  pa- 
"  tient  is  yet  fenfible,  violent  head-ach  with  great  fenfc 
"  of  chillinefs  takes  place,  the  extremities  become  very 
"  cold,  and  perfectly  infenfible  ;  there  is  great  proftration 
"  of  ftrength,  fo  that  the  patient  is  incapable  of  fupport- 
*c  ing  himfelf  in  an  erecl:  pofture ;  he  becomes  pale,  his 
"  fkin  is  of  a  dirty  brown,  and  he  is  foon  infenfible  to 
"  external  objects ;  the  eyes  are  half  open,  and  the  cor- 
"  nea  fomewhat  contracted.  If  the  patient  goes  off  very 
"  foon,  the  pulfe  is  diminifhed,  and  at  laft  loft,  without 
"  any  frequency  taking  place  -,  but  if  it  be  longer  before 
"  he  dies,  the  pulfe  becomes  exceffively  fmall  .and  fre- 
4<  quent ;  all  the  appearances  of  life  gradually  fubfide, 
"  and  the  patient  is  carried  off.  Of  this  the  author  has 
'*  feen  inftances,  fometimes  at  the  firft  attack,  oftener  in 
"  the  returns  of  the  difeafe,  although  very  few." 

This  no  doubt  is  very  terrible,  and  no  plague  what- 
ever can  exceed  it.  Indeed,  when  death  is  the  termina- 
tion, it  fignifies  little  what  the  dijeafe  is  called.  But  the 
queftion  is  not  whether  fever  or  plague  is  the  moft  dread- 
ful, but  whether  they  are  the  fame.  Now,  from  the 
above  defcription,  is  is  plain  that  fever  never  kills  with- 
out fome  warning.  In  the  prefent  inftance,  head-ach 
and  chillinefs  give  a  certain,  though  fhort,  warning  of 
the  cnfuing  cataftrophe  ;  but,  in  violent  plagues,  Dr. 
Sydenham  informs  us,  that  people  have  been  fuddenly 
dcftroyed  as  if  by  lightning.  Dr.  Guthrie  affures  us 
that  in  the  laft  plague  at  Mofcow  he  has  feen  foldiers 
drop  down  fuddenly  as  if  they  had  been  ftruck  by  light- 
ning, or  by  a  mufket  ball ;  yet  fome  of  thefe  recovered 

by 


104  A    TREATISE    ON 

by  bleeding  and  proper  management ;  but  it  is  certainty 
not  unreafonable  to  fuppofe  that  many,  who  were  not 
thus  taken  care  of,  perifhed.  Dr.  Hodges  fpeaks  of  the 
contagion  of  the  plague  in  the  moft  energetic  terms.  He 
fays,  "  it  is  fo  rare,  iubtile,  volatile  and  fine,  that  it  in* 
"  finuates  into,  and  refides  in,  the  very  pores  and  inter- 
"  ftices  of  the  aerial  particles.  It  is  faid  to  be  of  a 
il  poifonous  nature  alfo,  from  its  fimilitude  to  the  nature 
"  of  a  poifon,  fo  that  they  feem  to  differ  in  degree  only ; 
"  for  the  deadly  quality  of  a  peftilence  vaftly  exceeds 
"  either  the  arfenical  minerals,  the  moft  poifonous  ani- 
"  mals  or  infects,  or  the  killing  vegetables ;  nay,  the 
"  peftilence  feems  to  be  a  cornpofition  of  all  the  other 
"  poifons  together,  as  well  as  in  its  fatal  efficacies  to  ex- 

**  eel  them The  contagion   of    the  plague  is 

"  more  active  than  lightning,  and  in  the  twinkling  of  arx 
"  eye  carries  to  a  diftance  putrefaction,  mortification 
"  and  death.  As  for  the  manner  whereby  it  kills,  its 
*c  approaches  are  generally  fo  fecret,  that  perfons  feizecf 
"  with  it  fecm  to  be  fallen  into  an  ambufcade  or  a 

"  fnare,  of  which  there  feems  to  be  no  fufpicion 

"  In  the  plague  of  1665,  as  in  many  others,  people  fro- 
"  quently  died  without  any  fymptoms  of  horror,  thirft, 
"  or  concomitant  fever.  A  woman,  who  was  the  only 
"  one  left  alive  of  a  family,  and  in  her  own  opinion  in  per- 
%<  feet  health,  perceived  upon  her  bread  the  peftilential 
*'  fpots,  which  (he  looked  upon  to  be  the  fatal  tokens ; 
"  and  in  a  very  fhort  fpace  died,  without  feeling  any 

"  other  diforder,  or  forerunner  of  death A  youth 

<c  of  a  good  conftitution,  after  he  had  found  himfelf  fud- 
<<>r'denly  marked  with  the  tokens,  believed  at  firft  that 
"  they  were  not  the  genuine  marks,  becaufe  he  found 
**  himfelf  fo  well  ;  yet  he  was  dead  in  lefs  than  four 
*'  hours,  as  his  phyfician  had  prognofticated.  A  fever, 
44  however,  did  for  the  moft  part  fliew  itfclf,  and  was 
"  always  of  the  worft  kind.  Sometimes  it  feemed  to  re- 
*'  femble  a  quotidian,  fometimes  a  tertian  ;  there  never 
44  was  a  total  ceflation,  but  every  exacerbation  was  worfe 
6>  than  before."  In  like  manner  the  author  of  the 
Journal  of  the  Plague  Year  informs  us  that  many,  fup- 

poling 


THE   PLAGUE.  103 

poitng  themfelves,  and  fuppofed  by  others,  to  be  in  good 
health,  would  fuddenly  find  themfelves  feized  with  great 
ficknefs,  crawl  to  a  bench,  and  inftantly  expire.  "  Ma- 
"  ny  (fays  Dr*  Hodges)  in  the  middle  of  their  employ, 
."  with  their  friends  and  other  engagements,  would xfud- 
"  denly  fall  into  profound,  and  often  deadly  fleeps." 

It  is  needlefs  to  multiply  examples  :  the  above  are 
fufficient  to  fhow  that  the  plague,  when  in  its  mod  vio- 
lent flate,  kills  fuddenly  and  imperceptibly,  and  that 
like  the  bite  of  a  vampire,*  without  producing  any  fen- 
iible  diforder.  Jn  a  flate  fomewhat  inferior,  it  excites 
the  mod  malignant  fevers  ;  in  one  ftill  inferior  it  pro- 
duces fevers  of  a  milder  nature,  and  fo  on  until  we  find 
it  fo  mild,  that  thofe  infected  with  it  are  not  even  con- 
fined to  their  bed.  In  all  this  inquiry,  however,  we  find 
the  fecrecy  and  invifibility  of  the  peflilence,  fo  often 
mentioned  in  fcripture,  ftill  confirmed.  Other  diflem- 
pers  may  "  wade  openly  at  noon-day,"  but  this  always 
"  walks  in  darknefs." 

In  one  of  the  inferior  flages  of  this  diflemper  the  body 
is  affected  with  thofe  eruptions  named  buboes  and  car- 
buncles. Dr.  Patrick  Ruffel,  in  his  treatife  on  the 
plague  at  Aleppo,  divides  the  fymptoms  of  the  diflem- 
per into  fix  clafTes.  In  the  firfl  there  were  no  eruptions, 
and  all  the  patients  of  this  clafs  died.  In  the  fecond, 
and  all  the  refl,  there  were  buboes  and  carbuncles,  But, 
in  the  latter  of  thefe  efpecially,  it  is  worthy  of  remark, 

that 

*  The  vampire  is  a  kind  of  bat»  of  a  very  large  fize,  met  with  in  feme 
parts  oi  South  America  and  in  the  Baft  Indies.  This  vile  creature  delights 
in  human  blood,  and  often  attacks  people  in  the  night  time  in  the  rnoft  infi- 
Utous  manner.  A  late  traveller  relates  that  at  Surinam  he  was  bit  by  one  of 
them,  which  fucked  fo  much  of  his  blood»  that  in  the  morning  he  found  him- 
felf  exceedingly  wesk  and  faint.  He  felt  no  pain,  nor  was  fenfible  of  the 
injury  in  any  other  way.  The  vampire  commonly  attacks  the  great  to«» 
making  a  wound  fo  exceedingly  fmall  that  the  perfon  is  not  awaked  by  it  ; 
it  then  fucks  till  gorged  with  hlood,  and,  left  the  patient  fhould  awake,  it- 
keeps  tanning  him  all  the  while  with  its  large  wings,  the  coolnefs  oi  which, 
in  that  hot  climate,  promotes  Deep.  In  this  manner  fome  are  faid  to  have 
been  destroyed.  Captain  Cook  relates  an  humourous  anecdote  of  one  oi  his 
tailors,  who  being  afhore  at  New  Holland,  and  having  wandered  a  little  wajr 
into  the  woods,  returned  in  a  fright,  crying  out  that  he  had  feen  the  devil  I 
Being  afked  in  what  fhape  Satan  had  appeared,  he  aniwercd,  <«  He  was  about 
the  iize  of  a  one  gallon  keg,  and  very  like  it ;  and  if  I  had  not  been  aftar'J, 
I  might  have  touched  him."  It  was  a  vampire.  The  man,  notwithftandin£ 
his  fright,  had  not  exaggerated  its  magnitude.  Peeple,  though  raiftak«n  and 
)  sis  not  to  be  dilbelteved  in  every  part  of  their  relation, 

p 


106  A   TREATISE    ON 

that  they  appear  neither  as  a  foppuration,  nor  as  a  com- 
mon  mortification,  but  like  the  efchar  formed  by  a  cauf- 
tic,  which  cna  fcarcely  be  cut  by  a  knife.  This  ap- 
pearance is  not  to  be  met  with  in  any  other  difeafe.  In 
many  there  are  mortifications  of  various  parts  of  the 
body,  but  all  thefe  are  foft,  and  feemingly  corruptions 
ef  the  flefh.  When  a  perfon  dies  of  any  ordinary  dif- 
temper,  the  flefh  foon  corrupts  and  diflblves,  but  there 
is  no  example  of  its  turning  to  a  hard  efchar  like  that 
made  by  a  hot  iron,  or  the  cauftic  with  which  iflues  are 
made.  This  ihews  not  merely  a  ceffation  of  life,  but 
the  operation  nf  fome  very  a&ive  power  in  the  body, 
like  fire,  tendii.g  to  deftroy  the  texture  of  it  entirely,  and 
to  reduce  it  to  a  cinder.  This  power  feems  alfo  to 
operate  internally  in  the  flefhy  parts ;  for  when  the 
bodies  of  thofe  were  opened  who  died  with  the  tok&nsy 
as  they  are  called  by  Dr.  Hodges,  upon  them,  the  mor- 
tification was  always  found  much  larger  inwardly  than 
it  appeared  to  be  on  the  outfide.  The  tokens  them- 
felves  are  by  Dr.  Hodges  called  "minute  diftinet  blafls, 
"  which  had  their  origin  from  within,  and  rofe  up  iu 
5C  little  pyramidal  protuberances,  fometimes  as  fmali  as 
"  pins'  heads,  at  others  as  large  as  a  iiiver  penny ;  hav- 
"  ing  the  peftilential  poifon  chiefly  collected  at  their 
«  bafes,"  &c. 

That  the  plague  was  by  the  ancients  reckoned  a 
difeafe  of  a  nature  different  from  all  others,  appears  from 
Galen,  as  quoted  by  Deuflngius.  "  What  is  called  the 
"  peftilence  is  moft  properly  remarked  by  Galen  not  to 
"  be  a  genus  of  any  known  difeafe.  For  whatever  dif- 
"  eafes  and  fymptorns  are  afTociated  with  the  plague, 
*c  truly  and  properly  fo  called,  the  fame  are  wont  to  be 
"  called  peftilential  difeafes ;  of  which  indeed  there  are 
"  an  innumerable  multitude,  and  thefe  not  always  nor 
*'  every  where  the  fame."* 

In  like  manner  Diemerbroeck,  as  quoted  by  Allen, 
gives  his  opinion,  that  "  The  plague  is  fomething  dif- 

"  ferent 

*  Non  effe  certi  morbi  genus*  id  quod  pefilletts  vocaturf  re&iflime  notatum  a 

Galeno  eft  (3    Epid.    comm.  3.  t.  20.)  quicunque  enim  morbi  ac  fympto- 

mata  confociantur  peftip  veiae  proprieque  didXi  ijdem  morbi  pejlilentti  apellari 

confuevere,   quorum  equidem   innumerabilis  exiftit  cohors,  acnon  fcmpcrct 

ubivis  eadem.   (D**^  d:  P'Jte,  S(&.  iilj 


THE   PLAGUE,  107 

cc  ferent  from  a  fever,  and  a  fever  is  only  a  fymptom  of 
"it,  as  I  have  very  of  tin  obferved ;  and  therefore  fome 
"  very  ill  define  the  plague  by  a  fever,  lince  a  fever  does 

"  not  efientially  belong  to  it A  peftilential  fe- 

"  ver,  the  companion  of  the  plague^  is  not  occafioned  by  a 
"  peftilentiai  venom,  but  by  the  mediation  of  putre- 
"  faction  ;  that  is,  it  is  not  produced  becaufe  the  hm- 
"  mours  are  infe&ed  with  the  peftilent  venom,  but  be- 
"  caufe  the  heart,  being  irritated,  overwhelmed  and 
*c  much  weakened  by  the  peftilent  venom,  can  neither 
"  duly  digeft  and  rarefy,  nor  govern  and  fufficiently  dif- 
"  charge  the  infected  humours ;  which  for  this  reafon. 
"  putrefy  and  acquire  a  preternatural  heat,  and  fo  excite 
"  a  fever ;  which  by  reafon  of  the  forefaid  fecondary 
"  caufe,  is  different  and  diftinct  from  the  plague,  and  a 
"  fymptom  of  it.  This  is  confirmed  both  by  the  max- 
"  ims  and  authority  of  the  ancients  and  moderns,  as 
"  well  as  by  practice,  and  evident  examples." 

Thus  it  appears,  both  by  fair  reafoning  by  induction 
from  facts,  and  from  the  authority  of  the  greateft  phy- 
ficians,  that  the  plague  is  certainly  a  difeafe  by  itfelf, 
and  entirely  diftinct  from  all  others.  Hence  it  follows, 
that,  though  we  could  inveftigate  the  caufes  of  fever  in 
their  utmoft  extent,  we  might  ftill  be  ignorant  of  the 
true  plague.  That  nothing,  however,  may  be  omitted, 
let  us  now  confider  what  phyficians  have  advanced  on 
this  fubject,  and  what  progrefs  they  have  made  in  afcer- 
taining  the  fources  from  whence  fo  many  direful  cala~ 
mi  ties  are  derived. 

In  an  inquiry  of  this  kind,  or  indeed  concerning  any 
caufe  whatever,  it  is  plain  that  the  nature  of  the  effect 
mud  be  firft  und.erflood.  Fever  then  being  an  effeft, 
we  mud  begin  with  inveftigating  its  nature.  But  fever 
itfelf  is  only  manifeft  by  certain  changes  in  the  human 
body.  Before  we  can  inveftigate  the  nature  of  fever, 
therefore,  we  rnuft  inveftigate  the  human  body,  and 
that  in  a  manner  very  different  from  what  we  did  before. 
We  muft  now  confider  the  fources  of  life ;  in  what 
manner  the  vital  principle  acts  upon  the  body,  and  by 
what  means  its  motions  can  be  difturbed,  or  how  they 
may  be  rectified  when  once  difordered,  &c.  &c. 

The 


io8  A   TREATISE    ON 

The  fyftems  of  medicine  before  the  time  of  Boerhaave 
are  now  fo  generally  exploded,  that  it  is  needlefs  to  take 
any  notice  of  them ;  and  the  reputation  of  Boerhaave 
himfelf  in  this  way  feems  to  be  almoft  expiring.  His 
doctrines,  neverthelefs,  merit  fome  attention,  becaufe  he 
takes  into  account  a  principle  overlooked  by  fucceeding 
theorifts,  viz.  the  coke/ion  of  the  parts  of  the  body.  That 
he  did  fo  is  evident,  from  his  having  written  upon  the 
difeafcs  of  a  weak  and  lax  fibre,  and  the  difeafes  of  a 
ftrong  and  rigid  fibre.  In  other  refpects  he  followed  in  a 
great  meafure  the  mechanical  phyficians  of  the  former 
century.  He  therefore  took  but  little  notice  of  the 
nervous  fyftem,  as  being  lefs  fubjecl:,  or  indeed  to  ap- 
pearance not  at  all  fubjecl:,  to  the  known  laws  of  me- 
chanics. The  blood  was  more  manageable.  The 
xnicrofcopical  difcoveries  of  Lewenhoeck  furnifhed  an 
excellent  foundation  for  his  fyftem.  This  celebrated 
obferver  had  difcovered,  or  fancied  he  had  difcovered, 
that  the  red  part  of  the  blood  is  compofed  of  globules. 
Inaccurate  indeed  thefe  globules  mud  have  been,  fince 
«ach  of  them  was  compofed  of  fix  ;  four  touching  one 
another  in  the  middle,  with  one  above,  and  one  below, 
thus  g§.  The  ferum  was  faid  to  be  compofed  of  fingle 
globules,  and  by  this  attenuation  it  was  fuppofed  that  the 
fluid,  inflead  of  red,  appeared  of  a  yellow  colour.  Still, 
however,  this  was  inefficient.  Each  of  the  yellow  glo- 
bules was  difcovered  (either  by  fancied  obfervations  or 
by  conjecture,  it  matters  not  which)  to  be  compofed  of 
iix  others,  which,  fingly  taken,  might  conflitute  the 
lymph  or  fome  other  fluid  >  and  thus,  like  the  number 
of  the  Beaft,  we  might  go  on  by  fixes  to  the  end  of  the 
chapter,  and  folve  all  the  phenomena  of  nature.  In. 
juftice  to  the  rnicrofcopifts,  however,  it  mufb  be  obfer- 
ved,  that  fome  of  them  have  given  a  much  lefs  fanciful 
account  of  the  ftruclure  of  the  blood  than  Lewenhoeck. 
Mr.  Hewfon  found  it  compofed  of  veficles,  or  fmall 
bladder-like  fubftances,  with  a  black  fpot  in  the  middle, 
Thefe  veficles  difiblved  in  pure  water,  but  kept  their 
original  form,  which  he  fays  was  as  flat  as  a  (billing, 
when  a  fmall  portion  of  neutral  fait  was  added  to  the 
fluid.  The  (olid  particles  he  fuppofed  to  be"  produced 

by 


THE    PLAGUE.  109 

by  the  lymphatic  fyftem ;  the  black  policies  by  the 
fpleen. 

The  fuppofed  obfervations  of  Lewenhoeck  were  of 
confiderable  ufe  to  Boerhaave  in  the  forming  of  his 
fyftem  of  medicine,  though  they  feem  not  to  have 
accorded  very  well  with  his  doctrine  of  lentor  or  vifcidity 
in  the  blood.  Bat,  let  this  be  as  it  willl,  having  laid  it 
<lown  as  the  foundation  of  his  theory,  that  the  difeafes 
of  the  body  proceeded  from  too  great  a  laxity  of  the 
fibres,  or  from  too  great  a  rigidity  of  them,  and  a  great 
many  from  this  lentor,  his  practice  was  accordingly  di- 
rected to  fuch  medicines  as  he  imagined  would  remove 
thele  fuppofed  caufes  of  difeafe.  As  the  lentor  of  the 
blood  was  one  of  his  favourite  fuppofitions,  he  was  there- 
fore perpetually  at  war  with  this  imaginary  enemy,  and 
dealt  very  much  in  faponaceous  medicines  with  a  view 
to  break  it  down.  But  here  it  is  evident  that  this  great 
man  w*as  miftaken,  even  though  we  ihould  allow  the 
cxiftence  of  lentor  as  much  as  he  pleated.  The  vifci- 
dity, lentor,  or  any  other  ftate  of  the  blood,  is  an  tffeft  of 
fomething.  It  is  part  of  that  ftate  into  which  the  body 
is  brought  by  the  difeafe.  The  efforts  of  the  phyfician 
therefore  ought  to  be  againft  that  which  produces  the 
lentor  ;  for,  unlefs  this  be  done,  the  caufe  of  the  difeafe 
muft  perpetually  counteract  the  medicines  by  producing 
new  lentor  as  faft  as  they  deftroy  it ;  and  befides,  muft 
have  greatly  the  advantage  of  the  phyfician,  by  being 
already  in  pofleflion  of  the  whole  mafs  of  blood,  while 
the  medicines  can  only  enter  it  very  gradually,  and  that 
by  the  ftomach  and  lacteals,  inftead  of  being  inftantly 
mixed  with  it,  and  exerting  their  power  immediately 
upon  the  fluid  itfelf. 

But  befides  this  miftake,  which  is  common  to  other 
•fyftems,  Boerhaave's  lentor  has  been  denied,  and  that 
upon  fuch  ftrong  grounds  that  it  is  now  univerfally  ex- 
ploded. Another  fyftem  quickly  fucceeded,  in  which 
every  thing  was  managed  by  the  nerves.  This  was 
introduced  by  Hoffman,  adopted,  and  perhaps  improved, 
by  Dr.  Cullen,  under  whofe  aufpices  it  acquired  fuch 
a  degree  of  celebrity,  that  for  a  long  time  it  was  danger- 
ous 


no  A    TREATISE    ON 

ous  to  write  or  fpeak  againft  it ;  and  the  perfon  who  had 
the  audacity  to  do  fo  underwent  a  kind  of  medical 
profcription  from  the  Edinburgh  College  and  all  its 
iludents.  According  to  this  celebrated  theorift,  the 
brain  is  that  part  of  the  body  firft  formed  in  the 
embryo ;  it  may  be  feen  with  nerves  proceeding  from  it 
long  before  the  heart  or  any  blood-veffel  belonging  to  it 
is  vifible.  Hence  we  are  to  conclude  that  this  part 
is  necelfary  to  the  exiftence  of  every  other  part  of  the 
body,  though  it  doth  not  appear  that  they  are  effentially 
neceflary  to  its  exiftence.  The  fuperiority  of  the  nerves 
to  all  other  parts  being  thus  eftablifhed,  the  Doctor 
undertook  to  prove  that  all  other  parts  of  the  body 
were  formed  from  them  j  that  the  body  is  nourifhed 
immediately  from  them,  and  in  fhort  that  the  whole 
body  is  in  fuch  fubjection  to  the  nervous  fyftem,  that, 
except  for  the  mere  purpofe  of  diftending  the  vejOTels,  we 
can  fcatcely  know  for  what  end  the  blood  exifts; 
iince  the  nerves  car  alter  its  confidence,  or  that  of  any 
of  the  fluids  fecretecl  from  it,  by  a  mere  affection  of  that 
fyftem,  without  any  thing  either  added  to  or  taken  from 
the  vital  fluid. 

Thus  we  were  compelled  to  believe  that  all  difeafes 
at  their  firft  origin  are  affections  of  the  nervous  fyftem, 
from  whence  they  are  propagated  through  the  whole 
body.  The  Cullenian  practice  in  acute  difeafes,  of  which 
the  plague  is  the  moft  violent,  was  built  upon  a  maxim 
of  Hoffman  :  "  Atonia  gignit  fpafmos :"  Atony  produces 
Jpafms.  In  explaining  the  nature  of  typhus  fever,  there- 
lore,  with  which  he  claffcs  the  plague,  the  Doctor  fup- 
pofed  that  the  contagion  acted  firft  upon  the  nervous 
iyftem,  by  producing  therein  a  debility.  The  immedi- 
ate effect  of  this  debility  is  z  fpafm,  or  preternatural  con- 
traction of  the  capillary  veffeis,  or  extremely  fmall  arte- 
ries. Hence  the  blood  finds  fome  difficulty  in  circu- 
lating, and  the  patient  is  feized  with  (hivering,  and  has 
a  fenie  of  cold.  When  this  has  continued  for  fome 
time  the  iyftem  begins  to  re-aEi  againft  its  enemy  ;  the 
m  is  reTolved,  and,  the  reaction  of  the  fyftem  conti- 
A£,  the  action  of  the  heart  and  arteries  is  augmented, 
arid  the  body  becomes  warmer.  Thus 


THE   PLAGUE,  in 

Thus  the  coldnefs,  fhivering,  and  confequent  heat, 
which  conftitute  thefirft  attack  of  fever,  are  very  plau- 
fibly  explained  ;  but  in  the  mode  of  cure  this  learned 
phytician  fell  into  the  fame  miftake  with  Dr.  Boerhaave  ; 
for  though  fpafm  is  undoubtedly,  even  according  to  htm- 
felf,  an  effeft,  he  directs  his  medicines  entirely  againft  it, 
as  if  it  were  a  caufe.  Thus,  forgetting  what  he  had  juft 
before  advanced,  that  the  fpafm  is  occalioned  by  debili- 
ty, he  recommended  the  moft  debilitating  medicines 
and  regimen  to  cure  people  already  too  much  debili- 
tated ;  and  to  fuch  practice  his  enemies  alledged  that 
many  fell  victims.  The  theory  and  practice,  however, 
ftill  kept  its  ground ;  and  as  great  numbers  of  ftudents 
were  every  year  bred  up  in  the  belief  of  it  at  Edinburgh 
College,  who  carried  the  principles  of  their  teacher  to  all 
parts  of  the  world,  it  bade  fair  for  becoming  univerfaL 
But,  in  the  midft  of  this  eclat,  the  whole  fyftern  received 
fueh  a  rude  (hock  from  the  doctrines  of  John  Browx, 
though  at  that  time  not  even  M.  D.  as  it  hath  not  yet 
recovered. 

Though  the  author  of  the  new  fyftem  contended,  as 
much  as  Dr.  Cullen,  for  the  fupremacy  of  the  nerves,  he 
did  not  upon  that  foundation  attempt  to  eftablifh  his 
practice.  He  confidered  the  living  body  as  one  machine, 
the  whole  of  which  might  be  acted  upon,  and  always  was 
acted  upon  by  certain  powers.  It  pofTefles  a  certain  in- 
explicable property  called  excitability,  capable  of  being 
augmented  or  diminifhed.  Every  power  which  aug- 
ments the  excitability  he  called  z,  jlimulus,  the  oppofitc 
would  have  been  a  fedative ;  but  according  to  this 
fyftem  there  is  not  any  fedative,  nor  can  there  be  one  in 
nature.  The  reafon  is,  that  excitability  itfelf  has  no 
exiflence  but  in  confequence  of  the  action  of  certain 
powers  catted  J?imu!ants.  The  total  fubduction  of  thefe 
reduces  the  excitability  to  nothing;  of  confequence  no 
power  can  act  againft  it  in  a  ftate  of  non-exiftence. 
What  other  phylicians  call  fedatives,  therefore,  accord- 
ing to  the  new  fyftem,  are  only  weak  Jlimulants.  The 
fallacy  of  fuch  rcafoning  is  obvious ;  but  as  it  does  not 
affect  the  pra&ice,  we  ihall  not  fpend  any  time  in  con-' 
lidering  it  further.  On 


xi*  A   TREATISE   ON 

On  the  principles  juft  now  laid  down,  the  Brunonfan 
fyftem  divides  all  difeafes  to  which  the  human  body  is 
liable  into  two  great  clafTes ;   the  one  produced  by  too- 
much  excitement,  the  other  by  too  little.     The  former 
contains  thofe  difeafes  by  other  phyficians  called  inflam- 
matory ;  the  latter  fuch  as  are  called  nervous,  putrid, 
or  all  in  which  the  powers  of  life  are  too  weak,  and  re- 
quire to  be  fupported.    This  laft  is  fuppofed  to  be  much 
more  numerous  than  the  former ;   and  in  the  cure  of 
thefe  it  was  that  the  founder  of  the  fyftem  appeared  to 
greater!  advantage.     A  mod  violent    altercation  took 
place  between  Dr.  Brown  and  the  Edinburgh  College ; 
yet,  notwithftanding  all  the  influence  of  the  profeflbrs,  and 
their  unanimous  oppofition  to  the  new  doctrines,  they 
found  themfelves  ultimately  unable  to  refift  a  fingle  mart 
nnfupported  either  by  wealth  or  reputation.     The  plau- 
fibility  of  his  fyftem,  and  its  being  obvious  to  every  ca- 
pacity, overcame  every  obftacle  -,  fo  that  even  the  prac- 
tice of  the  Cullenians  themfelves  underwent  confiderable 
alterations.     It  is  not,  however,  to  be  denied  that  the 
fyftem  hath  been  confiderably  improved,  or  at  leaft  al- 
tered, by  fome  of  Dr.  Brown's  pupils,  who  have  had  the 
advantage  of  ex  te  no"  ve  practice,  and  of  vifiting  many  differ- 
ent countries  ;  which  the  Dodtor  himfelf  never  had.    His 
materia  medica  was  befides  exceedingly  confined  ;    the 
only  medicines  he  had  any  great  opinion  of,  being  lauda- 
num and  ardent  fpirits.  The  Peruvian  bark  he  held  in  very 
little  eftimation,  as  being  a  weak  ftimulus.     He  feems 
to  have  been  unacquainted  with  the  virtues  of  mercury, 
except  in  the  venereal  clifeafe,  and  moft  probably  would 
Lave  given  laudanum  in  thole  cafes  of  fever  where  mer- 
cury is  found  by  others  to  be  fo  efficacious.     But  this, 
deficiency  hath  been  abundantly  fupplied  by  fome  of 
his  followers.     In  a   work  entitled  "The  Science  of 
Life,"  publiflied  by  Dr.  Yates'and  Mr.  M'Lean,  prac- 
titioners in  the  Eaft  Indies,    we  find    mercury    exhi- 
bited in  prodigious  dofes.      As  a   fpecimen    we    fhall 
felecl  their  third  cafe,  which  was  a  dyfentery.     On  the 
firft  of  September  the  pationt  took  two  grains  of  calomel 
and  as  much  opium  every  two  hours.     This  was  con- 
tinued 


THE    PLAGUE,  113 

tinned  for  two  days.  On  the  third,  the  dofe  was 
given  every  hour  ;  beiides  which,  he  had  half  an 
ounce  of  mercurial  ointment  with  a  drachm  of  ca- 
lomel rubbed  into  his  body.  Next  day  the  pills  were 
continued,  and  the  quantity  of  ointment  tripled  by 
thrice  rubbing  in.  This  was  continued  for  three  days, 
at  which  time,  an  eruption  on  the  ikm  appearing,  it  was 
feared  he  could  not  be  falivated ;  this  eruption  being  a 
iign  that  no  falivation  could  be  produced.  -  The  fame 
mode  of  treatment,  however,  was  perlifted  in.  Septem- 
ber 7th  the  calomel  in  the  pills  was  augmented  to 
four  grains  ;  the  warm  bath  was  ufed,  and  the  ointment 
continued;  but  at  night  twenty  grains  of  calomel  and 
£x  of  opium  were  given  every  two  hours.  At  the  fame  time 
two  ounces  of  ointment,  with  four  of  calomel,  were  or- 
dered to  be  rubbed  in.  Next  day,  though  his  puife 
was  almoft  imperceptible,  and  his  extremities  cold, 
66  the  medicines  were  continued  as  far  as  circumftances 
would  admit;"  with  what  view  it  is  not  faid,  nor 
indeed  is  it  eafy  to  be  difcovered.  At  one  in  the 
morning,  however,  the  patient  died  ;  an  event  not  at  all 
furprifing.  Our  authors  excufe  themfelves  for  this 
failure  by  faying  that  the  vifcera  of  the  patient  were 
difeafed,  as  was  evinced  by  the  impoflibility  of  exciting 
a  falivation  ;  and  "  that  when  a  patient  is  evidently  in* 
curable  by  the  common  practice,  it  becomes  the  duty 
of  the  practitioner  to  depart  from  it*" 

No  doubt  we  may  readily  affent  to  both  thefe  afler* 
tions ;  but  though  a  patient  be  evidently  incurable  by 
the  common  practice,  or  by  any  other,  there  is  no 
necefiity  for  killing  him,  or  for  perfevering  in  a  courfe 
of  violent  medicines  that  evidently  make  him  worfe. 
The  whole  of  this  cafe  indeed  ftrongly  militates  againft 
the  doctrine  of  excitement ;  for  if  mercury  be  fuch  a 
powerful  flimulus  to  the  powers  of  life  in  general,  how 
comes  it^  to  pafs  that  in  the  prefent  cafe  the  unhappy 
-patient,  inftead  of  being  in  the  imalleft  degree  excited, 
was  prodigioufly  debilitated,  and  that  from  the  very 
firft  time  of  taking  the  medicines.  This  will  appear 
from  the  following  table,  exhibiting  the  fymptoms  of  the 
difeafc  as  they  kept  pace  with  the  medicines  taken. 

DAYS 


A   TREATISE   ON 


DAYS  OF  TH» 
MONTH. 

Auguft     29 
&  pre  ceding. 


Sept. 


4th 


6th 


MEDICINII  TAK*N, 

Ordinary  dofes  of 
mercury  and  opi- 
um. 

Opium  and  mer- 
cury, two  grains 
each,  every  two 
hours ',  befides  opi- 
ate draughts. 

The  opium  and 
mercury  as  before, 
but  now  given  eve- 
ry hour  ;  half  an 
ounce  of  mercunal 
ointment,  with  60 
grains  calomel. 

Pills     as     ufual. 
Ointmt.  thrice  rub- 
bed in,   once  with 
120  grains  of  mer- 
cury. 

Medicines  as  be- 
fore. 

Medicines  as  be^ 
fore. 


SYMPTOM*. 


Pills  as  before, 
with  four  grains  of 
calomej.  Mercury 
in  the  ointment  in- 
creafed  to  half  an 
ounce.  Warm  bath. 
At  night  an  ounce 
of  mercurial  oint- 
ment, with  two  oun- 
ces calomel. 


Pain  of  bowels, 
and  frequent  ftools, 
growing  worfe. 

Still  increafing. 


Stools  very  fre- 
quent, with  violent 
pain  in-  the  bow- 
els ;  extreme  third, 
tongue  furred,  and 
no  fleep. 

Vomiting  during 
the  night.  Tongue 
brown  and  furred. 


Violent  pain  in 
bowels. 

Extreme  pain  on 
pre  fling  the  arch 
of  the  colon ;  fre- 
quent ftools,  profufe 
fweats,  great  dejec- 
tion of  fpirits. 

Asyefterday.  An 
eruption  on  the  fkin. 
At  night  inceflant 
ftools,  with  violent 
pain  in  the  belly  j 
profufe  fweat. 


Sth     Pills, 


THE    PLAGUE.  115 

5th         Pills,  ointment  £;         Inceflant    ftools, 
ealomel    as  before,     with   violent  pain; 
Warm  bath  thrice,     at  night  with  blood. 
At  night  two  ounces     Extreme  debility, 
ointment,  with  four 
of  calomel. 

9th  Medicines  of  the  Stools  innume- 
fame  kind,  as  many  rable  ;  extremities 
as  could  be  taken.  cold,  pulfe  fcarce  to 

be  felt. 

loth  Death  at  one  in 

the  morning. 

From  a  confederation  of  this  patient's  fymptoms,  in 
comparifon  with  the  quantity  of  mercury  taken,  it  moil 
evidently  appears,  that  it  acted  in  no  other  way  than  as 
an  irritating  poifon  ;  affecting,  with  extreme  violence, 
the  already  difeafed  inteftines,  and,  inftead  of  exciting 
the  vital  powers  of  the  whole  fyftcm,  manifestly  deftroy- 
ing  them.  Let  it  not  be  imagined,  however,  that  this 
cafe  is  fele&ed  from  the  reft  merely  becaufe  it  was  fatal, 
or  becaufe  it  affords  an  opportunity  of  finding  fault  with 
the  practice  recommended  in  the  book.  It  is  the  only 
one  in  which  the  mercury  had  a  fair  trial ;  and  even 
here  it  was  not  very  fair,  as  being  conjoined  with  a  great 
quantity  of  opium.  In  the  other  cafes,  which  termi- 
nated favourably,  the  mercury  was  overpowered  by  fuch 
horrible  dofes  of  opium,  that  we  cannot  tell  which  me- 
dicine had  the  greateft  fhare  in  the  cure;  befides,  that 
in  other  cafes  the  patients  were  allowed  the  free  ufe.of 
wine,  which  we  all  know  to  be  a  powerful  ftimulant  and 
cordial ;  but  it  is  not  faid  that  the  poor  man,  whofe  cafe 
is  above  related,  had  a  fingle  drop  of  wine,  or  any  thing 
elfe,  except  opium,  to  fupport  him  againft  the  action  of 
fuch  a  violent  medicine. 

On  this  cafe  it  is  of  importance  flill  to  remark,  that  it 
affords,  in  the  ftrongefl  manner,  an  argument  againft 
what  our  authors  fay,  p.  86,  that  "  mercury  acts  by 
*'  fupporting  the  excitement  of  the  whole  body,  it  in- 
"  vigorates  each  particular  part  j  and  thus  occafions,  to 

"  a  certain 


ii6  A    TREATISE    ON 

*c  a  certain  extent,  the  regeneration  of  thofe  organs 
*c  which  may  have  been  injured  by  difeafe."  In  the  in- 
ftance  adduced,  there  is  no  evidence  of  a  ftimulus  upon 
any  other  part  of  the  fyftein  than  the  bowels,  which 
were  already  debilitated  or  difeafed  in  fuch  a  manner 
that  they  could  not  bear  it.  The  fyftem  in  general, 
inftead  of  being  excited,  was  funk  and  debelitated  from 
the  very  firft  moment,  until  at  lad  the  excitement  ter- 
minated entirely  by  the  patient's  death.  But  further  ; 
There  is  very  little  probability  that  mercury  or  any  other 
medicine  whatever  can  prove  a  general  ftimulus,  and 
that  for  the  following  reafons. 

1.  No  medicine  can  affimilate  with  the  fubftance  of 
the  body.    Medicines  properly  fo  called  are  here  alluded 
to.    Food  or  drink  of  any  kind  taken  for  the  fupport  of 
the  body  while  in  health,  however  they  may  act  medi- 
cinally upon  occafions,  are  excepted. 

2.  The  body  is  compofed  of  many  various  fubftan- 
ces,   each  differing  in  its  nature  from   the  other.     The 
nature  of  the  medicine,  whatever  it  may  be,  is  uniform, 
and  cannot  act  upon  fubftances  of  different  kinds  in  an 
uniform  manner ;  and  without  this  there  can  neither  be 
an  univerfal  ftimulant,  nor  an  univerfal  debilitant. 

3.  All  medicines,  being  incapable  of  affimilation  with 
the  body,  mufk  be  confidered,  when  taken  into  it,  as  fo- 
reign matter ;  and  the  introduction  of  them  at  any  rate 
is  in  fact  the  creating  of  a  difeafe.     This  is  evident  from 
multitudes  of  inftances  where  people  by  quacking  with 
thcmfeives,  and   taking   medicines  unneceffarily,   have 
deftroyed  their  health. 

4.  As  every  medicine  has  one  peculiar  nature,  and 
one  mode  of  action  in  confequence  of  that  nature,  it 
muft,  when  introduced  into  the  body,  where  there  are 
fluids  of  various  natures,  act  upon  one  of  them  more 
than  the  reft ;  and  this  may  be  called  the  chemical  action 
of  that  medicine  upon  the  body. 

5.  In  confequcnce  of  the  chemical  action  of  the  medi- 
cine, the  mode  by  which  it  is  expelled  out  of  the  body 
will    be   different;    for,  as  all  medicines  are  extraneous 
fubftances,  they   muft  be   fent   out  of  the  body  as  faft 

as 


THE   PLAGUE.  117 

as  poflible  ;  and  it  is  their  adion  upon  one  particular 
part  which  promotes  their  expulfion.  Thus,  if  from 
the  nature  of  the  medicine  it  ads  in  a  certain  way  upon 
the  ftomach  and  bowels,  it  will  vomit  or  purge,  or  per- 
haps both  5  and  by  this  adion  it  is  expelled  from  the 
body,  along  with  whatever  other  matters  happen  to  be 
in  the  ftomach  or  inteftines ;  and  thus  medicines  do 
good  only  accidentally ;  for  mere  vomiting  or  purg- 
ing are  mod  certainly  difeafes  ;  but  where  noxious 
matters  exift  in  the  bowels,  and  do  not  naturally  excite 
thefe  operations,  an  emetic  or  purgative  is  unqueftiona- 
biy  ufeful.  Here  the  authors  of  the  Science  of  Life 
reafon  differently  ;  and  it  is  worth  while  to  refute  their 
argument,  as  being  the  foundation  of  fuch  tremendous 
pradice  as  nobody  of  common  fenfe  would  choofe  to  be 
the  fuojed  of.  Of  tartar  emetic  they  fpeak  in  the 
following  terms.  "  That  tartar  emetic  is  a  ftimulant  of 
<fc  very  high  power,  is  evident  from  the  fmall  quantity  of 
"  it  which  produces  the  ftate  of  indirect  debility  that 
14  occafions  vomiting.  It.  (hould  be  given  in  fuch  a 
<c  manner  as  to  increafe  and  to  fupport  the  excitement. 
"  But  this  will  be  found  difficult,  as  the  duration  of 
"  its  adion  feems  to  be  even  fhorter  than  that  of  opium. 
"  If  its  adion  does  not  continue  more  than  a  quarter 
*fi  of  an  hour,  might  it  not  be  repeated  at  fuch  fhort 
"  intervals,  and  the  dofes  fo  reduced  as  to  allow  the 
«eeftabli(hment  of  the  indirect  debility?"  This  is 
arguing  in  a  circle.  They  firft  fuppofe  that  vomiting  is 
occafioned  by  indirect  debility,  that  is,  the  weaknefs 
produced  by  an  exceffive  ftimulus  to  the  whole  fyftem, 
as  in  cafes  of  drunkennefs;  and  then,  from  the  exiftence 
of  vomiting,  they  prove  that  a  general  ftimulus  had 
pre-exifted.  The  cafes,  however,  are  widely  different. 
In  cafes  of  drunkennefs,  the  perfon  feels  himfelf  at  firft 
exhilarated,  alert  and  adive,  which  fhowsthe  exiftence 
of  a  general  ftimulus.  But  who  has  ever  found  himfelf 
exhilarated  by  taking  a  dofe  of  tartar  emetic  ?  Yet  in  a 
general  excitement  it  is  abfolutely  neceffary  that  this 
exhilaration  (hould  take  place,  becaufe  it  is  an  infepa- 
confequence  of  an  addition  of  vital  power,  let  it 

come 


nS  A    TREATISE    ON 

come  in  what  way  it  will.  Thus  we  know  that  if  a 
perfon  happens  to  be  much  exhaufted  by  fatigue  and 
abftinence,  he  will  be  exhilarated  and  his  ftrength  aug- 
mented by  a  fingle  mouthful  of  meat,  as  well  as  by  a 
glafs  of  wine.  This  fhows  that  both  thefe  are  general 
flimulants  to  the  fyflem  ;  but  what  medicine  have  we 
that  will  produce  fimilar  effects  ?  Perhaps  opium, 
comes  the  neareft  in  the  whole  materia  medica  ;  but 
the  unealinefs  it  occafions  in  the  flomach  manifefts  a 
greater  action  upon  it  than  the  other  parts ;  for  if  the 
whole  body  were  equally  excited,  the  withdrawing  of  the 
flimulus,  or  its  naturally  lofing  its  force,  could  only 
have  the  fame  effect  with  falling  or  fatigue ;  but  the 
debility  of  the  ftomach,  the  confufion  of  the  head,  and 
.other  effects  which  attend  a  dole  of  opium,  demonftrate 
that  it  ads  partially,  and  not  equally  over  the  whole 
body.  The  Science  of  Life  indeed  fays  that  thefe  effects 
are  owing  to  the  improper  omifTion  of  the  medicine,  or 
not  repeating  the  dofcs  in  due  time.  This  may  be ; 
but  no  improper  exhibition  of  food,  or  want  of  due  re- 
petition, will  produce  fuch  f  ymptoms  ;  which  undoubt- 
edly is  a  proof  that  food  ftimulates  the  fyftem  in  one 
way,  and  opium  in  another. 

6.  If  any  medicine  could  be  found  that  acted  as  an 
univerfal  flimulus  or  exciter  of  the  whole  fyflem,  it 
.could  not  like  others  be  expelled  by  any  particular  eva- 
.cuation  ;  but,  by  deilroying  the  balance  between  the 
force  of  the  acting  powers  and  the  fubject  on  which  they 
act,  would  moft  certainly  kill,  unlefs  very  powerful 
means  were  uied  to  counteract  its  effect.  The  only 
iVimulant  we  are  acquainted  with  which  acts  equally  on 
the  whole  fyftem,  and  which  can  be  readily  exhibited  as 
a  medicine,  is  that  pure  kind  of  air  called  by  Dr. 
Prieftley  dephlogifticated,  by  Scheele  empyrean^  and  by  the 
French  chemiits  and  their  followers  oxygen.  The  ex- 
,g  powers  of  this  air,  when  breathed  inftead  of  the 
.ordinary  atmofphere,  are  aftonifhing.  It  not  only  aug- 
ments the  appetite,  but  the  power  of  the  mufcles,  and  the 
inclination  to  ufe  them  ;  fo  that  withodtany  intoxication 
.or  delirium  the  perfon  cannot  refrain  from  action  j  and 

it 


THE   PLAGUE.  n$ 

it  not  only  exhilarates  the  fpirits  in  an  extraordinary 
manner,  but  beautifies  the  face.  Did  the  cure  of  dif- 
eafes  therefore,  or  any  fct  of  them,  depend  on  mere  ex- 
citation, no  other  medicine  but  oxygen  would  be  necef- 
fary.  What  effects  it  may  have  in  difeafes  of  debility  is 
not  yet  afcertamed  ;  but  to  perfons  in  health  it  certainly 
proves  fatal  :  their  bodies  are  unable  to  bear  its  powerful 
action,  and  of  confequence  they  wafte,  and  would  die  of 
confumptions,  if  its  effects  were  not  counteracted.  Nor 
is  this  at  all  an  eafy  matter  ;  for  Dr.  Beddoes  informs  us 
that,  by  breathing  this  air  for  a  fhort  time  each  day,  only 
for  three  weeks,  he  found  himfelf  in  great  danger  of  a 
confumption,  and  was  obliged  to  ufe  much  butter  and 
fat  meat  in  his  diet,  befides  giving  up  the  ufe  of  the  air 
altogether,  in  order  to  get  clear  of  its  mifchievous 
effects. 

Another  mode  of  {Simulating  or  exciting  the  whole 
fyftem  is,  by  putting  into  it  a  larger  quantity  of  blood 
than  it  naturally  contains.  This  is  entirely  fimilar  to 
the  breathing  of  oxygen;  efpecially  if  arterial  blood  be 
ufed,  which  has  already  imbibed  its  fpiritous  part  from 
the  atmofphere.  In  the  laft  century  the  transfufion  of 
blood  was  propofed  not  only  as  a  mode  of  curing  dif- 
eafes, but  of  reftoring  old  people  to  youth ;  and  Dr. 
M'Kenzie,  in  his  Treatife  on  Health,  quotes  from  the 
memoirs  of  the  Academy  of  Sciences  feveral  inftances  of 
the  blood  of  brute  animals  being  infufed  into  human 
veins,  without  any  inconvenience.  It  feems,  however, 
not  only  a  bold  but  an  unnatural  atterript  to  ufe  the 
blood  of  beafts  for  fuch  a  purpofe  ;  and,  however  lavifli 
mankind  may  be  of  their  blood  upon  certain  occafions, 
it  is  to  be  feared  that  there  are  few  who  would  be  willing 
to  fpare  any  to  relieve  another  from  licknefs ;  but  indeed 
little  can  be  faid  about  the  practice;  as,  on  account  of 
fome  bad  confequences,  or  failures,  it  was  forbidden  by 
the  king  of  France,  and  by  the  pope's  mandate  in  Italy, 
and  has  now  fallen  into  difufe.  In  a  paragraph  at  the 
end  of  Heifter's  furgery  (4*0  edition)  it  is  aflerted  that 
the  transfufion  of  blood  was  productive  of  madnefs. 
Dr.  Darwin,  however,  in  his  Zoonomia,  ftill  propofes 

the 


120  A   TREATISE    Otf 

the  transfufion  of  blood  as  a  remedy,  and  even  defcribeS 
a  convenient  apparatus  for  performing  the  operation, 
In  one  part  of  his  work  he  fays,  "  Might  not  the 
transfufion  of  blood,  fuppofe  of  four  ounces  daily,  from 
a  ftrong  man,  or  other  healthful  animal,  as  a  fheep  or  an 
afs,  be  ufed  in  the  early  ftate  of  nervous  or  putrid 
fevers  ?"  In  another  place  he  mentions  his  having  pro- 
pofed  it  to  a  gentleman  whofe  throat  was  entirely  clofed 
up  by  an  incurable  fwelling,  fo  that  he  could  fwallow  no- 
thing. This  is  a  difeafe  not  very  rare,  and  which  always 
muft  be  fatal ;  becaufe  the  patients,  though  not  affected 
by  any  (icknefs,  die  of  hunger  ;  and,  to  relieve  them 
from  this  miferable  fituation,  extraordinary  attempts  are 
not  only  allowable  but  laudable.  The  Doctor  propo- 
fed  to  his  patient,  "  to  fupply  him  daily  with  a  few 
"  ounces  of  blood  taken  from  an  afs>  or  from  the  ku- 
"  man  animal,  who  is  Jlill  more  patient  and  tradable.,  in 
"  the  following  manner  :  To  fix  a  iilver  pipe,  about  an 
"  inch  long,  to  each  extremity  of  a  chicken's  gut,  the 
"  part  between  the  two  filver  ends  to  be  meafured  by 
"  filling  it  with  warm  water ;  to  put  one  end  into  the 
"  perfon  hired  for  that  purpofe,  fo  as  to  receive  the 
"  blood  returning  from  the  extremity  ;  and  when  the 
"  gut  was  quite  full,  and  the  blood  running  through  the 
"  other  filver  end,  to  introduce  that  end  into  the  veisi 
"  of  the  patient,  upwards  towards  the  heart,  fo  as  to 
c<  admit  no  air  along  with  the  blood.  And,  laftly, 
Ci  to  fupport  the  gut  and  filver  ends  on  a  water  plate 
"  filled  with  water  of  98  degrees  of  heat ;  and,  to  mea- 
"  fure  how  many  ounces  of  blood  were  taken  away,  to 
"  comprefs  the  gut  from  the  receiving  pipe  to  the  deli- 
"  vering  pipe."  The  gentleman  defireci  a  day  to  con- 
iider  of  this  propofal,  and  then  another  ;  after  which  he 
totally  refufed  it,  faying  that  he  was  now  too  old  to 
have  much  enjoyment  of  life,  and  that,  being  fo  far  ad- 
vanced in  a  journey  which  he  muft  certainly  accomplifh 
fooner  or  later,  he  thought  it  better  to  proceed  than  re- 
turn. The  Dodor  informs  us  that  he  died  a  few  days 
afterwards,  feemingly  very  eafy,  and  carelefs  about  the 
matter.  One  experiment  of  this  kind  I  have  been  witnefs 


THE   PLAGUE.  121 

to;  not  indeed  on  a  human  creature,  but  on  a  calf.  This 
creature  received  into  one  of  its  jugular  veins  a  confider- 
able  quantity  of  blood  from  the  carotid  artery  of  another, 
nearly  of  the  fame  age  (about  a  month,  or  little  more.) 
Jt  was  impoffible  to  fay  any  thing  about  how  much  was 
transfufed  ;  only  the  bleeding  was  continued  till  the 
animal  which  loft  the  blood  began  to  fhew  figns  of  faint- 
nefs.  The  artery  was  then  tied  up,  and  the  orifice  in 
the  jugular  vein  clofed.  The  calf  which  had  loft  the 
blood  appeared  very  languid  and  faint,  but  lived  a  few 
days  in  a  drooping  ftate ;  when  it  either  died  of  itfelf,  or 
was  killed,  as  being  fuppofed  paft  recovery.  The  other, 
which  had  received  the  blood,  appeared  to  be  in  every 
refpect  highly  excited.  It  became  playful,  even  in  the 
room  where  the  operation  was  performed,  its  eyes  afTu- 
med  a  bright  and  mining  appearance,  and  its  appetite 
was  greatly  increafed.  Thus  it  continued. for  about  a 
fortnight  -,  appearing  all  the  time  to  be  in  high  health,  and 
eating  much  more  than  ufual  ;  but  at  laft  died  fuddenly 
in  the  night.  From  thefe  effects  on  healthy  fubjeds,  how- 
ever, we  cannot  infer  what  would  happen  in  fuch  as  are 
difeafed  ;  but  it  is  plain  that  if  the  cure  of  difeafes  were  to 
depend  upon  mere  excitation,  the  means  are  in  our  power, 
without  any  local  irritation,  which  always  muft  take 
place  in  fome  degree  by  the  ufe  of  ordinary  medicines. 
This  path  is  not  abfolutely  untrodden  :  the  pneumatic 
practitioners  of  the  prefent  day  have  tried  oxygen  in 
confumptions,  and  found  it  pernicious ;  and  Dr. 
M'Kenzie  Informs  us  that  the  transfufion  of  blood  was 
tried  ineffectually  in  the  fame. 

7.  As  all  the  medicines  ufually  prefcribed  at  prefent 
are  only  to  be  accounted  partially  ftimulant,  or  as  acting 
upon  particular  parts  of  the  fyftem,  we  fee  that  fome 
may  promote  one  evacuation,  and  fome  another  3  while 
all  produce  fome  change  in  the  organization,  which  may 
prove  uieful  or  detrimental,  may  increafe  the  difeafe  or 
cure  it,  or  may  produce  another,  according  to  the  judi- 
cious or  injudicious  application.  But  for  a  knowledge 
of  all  this  we  muft  be  indebted  to  experience  :  there  is 
not  a  theory  on  earth  that  can  lead  us  a  fingle  ftep. 

R  Before 


122  A    TREATISE    ON 

Before  we  difmifs  the  confideration  of  medical  theories, 
however,  it  will  ftill  be  necefiary  to  give  fome  account 
of  the  new  fyftem  as  it  hath  branched  out  in  various 
ways :  for  though  the  fundamental  principle  is  now 
received  by  a  great  number  of  phyfkians,  yet  the  fuper- 
ftru6ture  is  exceedingly  different  from  what  Dr.  Brown 
himfelf  erected  ;  and,  indeed,  from  the  very  fame  prin- 
ciples we  find  conclufions  made  as  directly  oppofite  to 
one  another  as  can  be  exprefled  in  words.  Drs.  Yates 
and  M'Lean,  for  inftance,  at  Calcutta  in  the  Eafl  Indies, 
have  concluded  that  the  plague  "  is  a  difeafe  of  a  very 
high  degree  of  exhauftion ;"  which  Dr.  Brown  would 
have  called  debility.  Dr.  Rufli  at  Philadelphia,  pro- 
ceeding alfo  upon  the  Brunonian  principles,  determines 
it  to  be  the  mod  inflammatory  of  all  difeafes,*  and 
which  Dr.  Brown  would  have  called  a  difeafe  of  excite- 
ment. Thefe  two  doctrines  are,  in  every  fenfe  of  the 
word,  as  diftant  from  one  another  as  eaft  from  wed. 
Let  us  then  confider  both,  if  any  confideration  can  avail 
us  on  the  fubject. 

By  the  ancients  it  was  fuppofed  that  difeafes  were 
occafioned  by  fomething  either  bred  in  the  body  or  re- 
ceived into  it,  and  that  the  power  of  nature  produced, 
during  the  courfe  of  the  difeafe,  a  certain  change  in  this 
matter,  called  coElion,  or  concoRion  ;  which,  ifwepleafe, 
we  may  exprefs  by  the  Englifh  word  cooking.  The 
matter  of  the  difeafe,  called  alfo  morbific  matter,  thus 
cooked,  was  in  a  ftate  proper  for  expulfion,  and  was 
therefore  thrown  out  by  fweat,  vomit,  flool,  &c.  or  it 
might  be  expelled  artificially,  which  could  not  have  been 
attempted  with  fafety  before.  Modern  fyftems  deny 
the  exiftence  of  morbific  matter,  and  refolve  all  into  an 
affection  of  the  nerves,  according  to  Dr.  Cullen  by  cer- 
tain fedative  caufes,  but  according  to  Dr.  Brown  by 
an  accumulation  in  fome  cafes,  and  an  exhauftion  in 
others,  of  the  excitability  or  excitement  of  the  body. 
The  Science  of  Life  commences  with  ftating  what  they 
luppofe  to  be  an  improvement  of  the  Brunonian  princi- 
ples, and  from  which  the  following  account  of  the  ori- 
gin 
*  See  above)  p.  102, 


THE    PLAGUE.  123 

gin  of  difeafes  is  extra&ed.  "  Upon  the  different  dates  of 
"  excitability  depend  all  the  phenomena  of  health  and  dif- 
"  eafe.  There  are  three  dates  of  the  excitability,  i .  The 
*•  ftate  of  accumulation;  when  a  portion  of  the  ufual 

"  ftimuli  is  withheld When  a  portion  of  the 

"  ufual  flimuli  is  withheld,  the  excitability  accumulates, 
<c  and  the  body  becomes  fufceptible  of  impreflion  in  the 
vc  direct  ratio  of  the  fubduction.  This  ftate  conftitutes 
"  difeafes  of  accumulation,  or  of  direct  debility.  2.  The 
"  middle  ftate ;  when  the  excitability  is  fuch  that  the  ap- 
"  plication  of  the  accuftomed  degree  of  exciting  powers 
"  produces  tone  or  health.  3.  The  ftate  of  exhauftion. 
*c  When  the  application  of  ftimuli  has  been  greater  than 
"  that  which  produces  healthy  action,  the  excitability  is 
"  exhaufted,  and  the  body  becomes  lefs  fufceptible  of 
"  impreflion  in  the  direct  ratio  of  the  excefs.  This  ftate 
"  conftitutes  difeafes  of  exhauftion,  or  of  indirect  debility. 
"  The  ftates  of  accumulation  and  exhauftion  of  the  ex- 
"  citability,  in  their  different  degrees,  conftitute  all  the 
"  difeafes  to  which  living  bodies  are  fubject." 

Here  the  chime  runs  on  the  word  excitability,  which 
is  not  defined.  If  we  call  this  property/^/?,  then  we  arc 
only  informed,  that,  as  life  is  more  or  lefs  vigorous, 
the  body  enjoys  a  greater  or  fmaller  degree  of  health  ; 
which  we  know  without  any  medical  instructor.  If,  in- 
ftead  of  the  accumulation  and  exhauftion  of  excitability, 
we  take  the  original  doctrine  of  excitement  and  debility 
laid  do;vn  by  Dr.  Brown  himfelf,  we  are  nothing  better. 
The  whole  theory  is  loft  for  want  of  the  definition  of  a 
(ingle  word.  As  long  as  excitability  remains  an  unknown 
property,  we  can  explain  nothing  by  it.  We  may  in- 
deed vary  our  terms.  We  may  call  it  nervous  influence 
with  Dr.  Cullen,  or  fenforial  power  with  Dr.  Darwin ; 
but  we  mall  (till  be  as  much  in  the  dark  as  ever;  and 
all  that  can  be  made  out  of  our  theories,  when  our  lan- 
guage is  decypheredy  muft  be,  that  fometimes  people  are 
well,  and  fometimes  they  are  fick  ! 

Dr.  Rulh,  in  his  Treatife  on  the  Proximate  Caufe  of 
Fever,  adopts  in  part  Dr.  Brown's  fyftem  pretty  nearly 
as  the  author  himfelf  laid  it  down.  "  Fevers  of  all 

"  kinds 


124  A    TREATISE    ON 

"  kinds  (fays  he)  are  preceded  by  general  debility.  This, 
"  debility  is  of  two  kinds,  viz.  dired  and  indirect.  The 
"  former  depends  upon  an  abftracYion  of  ufual  and 
"  natural  ftimuli ;  the  latter  upon  an  increafeof  natural, 
*6  or  upon  the  action  of  preternatural,  ftimuli  upon  the 

<c  body Debility  is  always  fucceeded  by  increafed 

"  excitability,  or  a  greater  aptitude  to  be  acted  upon  by 

"ftimuli The  diminution  or  abftraction  of  one 

ec  flimulus  is  always  followed  by  the  increafed  action  of 
"  ethers."  Here  it  is  evident  we  are  as  much  in  want 
of  definitions  as  ever.  We  know  neither  what  excitability 
is,  nor  what  debility  is,  and  yet  they  are  both  held  out 
as  the  caufes,  and  proximate  or  immediate  caufes,  too,  of 
fymptoms  produced  by  things  quite  obvious  to  our 
fenfes.  Thus  cold  and  heat,  with  which  we  are  daily 
converfant,  are  only  called  the  predifpofing  caufes  of  fever  ; 
while  debility  and  excitement,  words  to  which  we  have 
no  meaning,  are  faid  to  be  the  proximate  caufe.  It 
would  certainly  be  better  to  throw  away  fuch  words  al- 
together, and  fay  that  cold,  .heat,  &c.  caufe  fevers,  with- 
out troubling  ourfelves  farther  about  the  matter. 

It  remains  now  to  take  into  confederation  the  pneu- 
matic theories,  founded  upon  the  difcoveries  made  by 
Dr.  Black,  Dr.  Prieftley,  Lavoifier,  and  others,  concern- 
ing various  kinds  of  aerial  fluids,  or  gafes?  as  they  are 
alfo  called.  Some  of  thefe,  particularly  that  afterwards 
called  fixed  air,  were  difcovered  by  Van  Helmont. 
Confiderable  advances  were  made  by  a  German  chemifr, 
named  Mavow,  in  the  laft  century ;  but  his  book  had 
fallen  into  fuch  oblivion  that  his  name  was  fcarce  ever 
mentioned,  until  his  difcoveries  were  repeated,  and  ftill 
greater  advances  made  by  others.  Dr.  Hales  obtained 
air  from  a  great  many  different  fubftances,  but  was  un- 
nb'e  to  afcertain  any  thing  concerning  its  nature.  Dr. 
Black  of  Edinburgh  laid  the  foundation  of  pneumatic 
chemiftry,  by  difcoveri-ng  that  a  certain  fpecies  of  air  is 
capable  of  being  abibrbecl  by  earths  of  different  kinds, 
and  that  many  very  heavy  fubftances  owe  at  leaft  one 

half 

*  Cat  i$  a  German  word*    or  derived   from   on? j  fjgnifyiog  fpirit.     The 
word  gbojl  comes  from  the  fame  original. 


THE   PLAGUE  125 

half  of  their  weight  to  this  condenfed  air.  The  difco- 
very  was  accidental.  Wifhing  to  obtain  a  very  pure 
and  white  lime,  he  had  recour'fe  to  the  fine  white  eartfi 
called  magnefia  alba.  Some  of  this  he  diftilled  with  a 
heat  fufficieiit  to  make  the  veflel  red  hot.  Only  a  very 
fmall  quantity  of  water  came  over,  but  the  magnefia  had 
loft  almoft  two  thirds  of  its  weight.  This  immenfe  lofs 
was  found  to  arife  from  an  emiffion  of  air  during  the 
operation ;  and  by  other  experiments  it  was  iikewife 
found  that  the  air  might  be  transferred  from  one  portion 
of  magnefia  to  another  from  which  it  had  been  previ- 
oufly  expelled  ;  that  the  exiftence  of  this  fpecies  of  air 
in  certain  bodies  was  the  caufe  of  that  fermentation 
which  takes  place  when  any  acid  is  poured  upon  them, 
as  vinegar  upon  chalk  or  potam.  Hence  if  any  of  thefe 
fubftances  be  deprived  of  its  air,  it  will  not  any  longer 
ferment  in  this  manner.  It  mud  not  be  forgot,  how- 
ever, that  when  air  thus  unites  itfelf  with  any  terreftrial 
fubftance  it  no  longer  has  its  former  properties.  It  is 
reduced  exceedingly  in  bulk*  and  in  proportion  to  this  re- 
duction only  the  body  is  increafed  in  weight;  and  therefore 
though  we  fay  that  the  air  is  abibrbed,  we  muft  ftill  re- 
member that  only  one  part  of  it  is  fo,  and  that  by  far 
the  lead  coniiderable  in  bulk.  A  violent  fire  will  always 
expel  the  air  again,  and  reflore  it  to  its  former  bulk ; 
and  again  the  condenfation  or  abforption  of  the  air  is 
always  attended  with  the  production  of  heat.  This  lad 
property  was  not  much  attended  to  by  Dr.  Black,  but 
others  have  obferved  it ;  and  the  late  Dr.  Charles  Web-* 
fter  of  Edinburgh  publifhed  a  theory  in  which  he  main^ 
tained  that  condenfation  was  in  all  cafes  the  caufe  of 
of  heat.  But,  however  true  it  may  be  that  condenfafe'ion 
of  any  kind  is  followed  or  accompanied  by  heat,  it  is 
evidently  neceffary  to  know  the  caufe  of  the  condenfation 
alfo,  other  wife  we  make  no  advance  in  folid  theory. 

The  aerial  fluid,  difcovered  by  Dr.  Black,  was  one 
of  thofe  mod  commonly  met  with.  He  called  it  fixed 
air,  from  its  property  of  adhering  or  fixing  itfelf  to  dif- 
ferent bodies.  It  was  found  to  be  the  fame-  with  that 
which  had  been  difcovered  by  Van  Helmont,  and  by 

hirn 


126  A    TREATISE    ON 

him  named  gas  fylveftre  (fpirit  of  wood)*  or  the  fume 
of  charcoal  ;  it  was  found  to  be  the  fame  with  the  fleam 
of  fermenting  liquor,  and  with  that  very  frequent  and 
dangerous  vapour,  met  with  in  coal  mines,  called  in 
Scotland  the  choke-damp.  Like  other  difcoveries,  this 
was  quickly  pufhed  beyond  its  proper  bounds,  and  ap- 
plied to  the  folution  of  phenomena  which  it  could  not 
folve.  Dr.  M'Bride,  particularly,  fuppofed  it  to  be  the 
bond  of  union  between  the  particles  of  matter,  or  in 
other  words  the  principle  of  cohefion  itfelf.  ,  It  was  alfo 
fuppofed  to  be  the  fubftance  of  thofe  fcorching  winds, 
called  famiel,  met  with  in  Ada  and  Africa,  and  which 
fometimes  prove  fatal  to  travellers.  The  pernicious  va- 
pours called  mofetes,  which  fometimes  iffue  from  the  old 
lavas  of  Vefuvius  in  Italy,  were  likewife  fuppofed  to  be 
the  fame  j-j*  but  of  this,  particularly  with  regard  to  the 

famiel,  there  feems  to  be  no  fufficient  evidence.        m, 

The 

*  This  muft  be  underftood.  only  of  its  general  properties  anil  effedls  ;  for, 
though  the  fume  of  charcoal  poileilcs  many  of  the  apparent  properties  of 
pure  fixed  air,  it  contains  alfo  a  very  coniiderable  quantity  of  another  kind 
of  gas . 

•f  Many  fabulous  ftories  have  been  related  concerning  the  famiel.  Even 
fo  late  a  traveller  as  Mr.  Ives  has  adopted  fome  of  thofe  exaggerated  accounts 
which  have  been  difcredited  by  thofe  who  have  long  refided  in  the  coun- 
tries where  this  wind  is  commonly  met  with.  It  is  not  peculiar  to  the  de- 
fcrts  of  Arabia,  but  is  met  with  in  all  hot  countries  which  are  deftitute  of 
water.  In  the  African  deferts  therefore  it  is  common  ;  and  Mr.  Bruce  de- 
fcribes  it  by  the  name  of  Jim^m.  It  was  preceded  by  whirlwinds  of  a  ve- 
ry extraordinary  kind.  ««  In  that  vaft  expanfe  of  defert  (fays  he)  from  W. 
<•*  asul  to  N.  W.  of  us,  we  faw  a  number  of  prodigious  pillars  of  land  at  dif- 
**  ferent  diftances,  at  times  moving  with  great  celerity,  at  others  walking  on 
"  with  a  majefti'c  flownefs.  At  intervals  \ve  thought  they  were  coming  in  a 
tl  very  few  minutes  to  overwhelm  us  ;  and  fmall  quantities  of  fand  did  adtu- 
•'  ally  more  than  once  reach  us.  Again  they  would  retreat  fo  as  to  be  almoft  out 
"  of  light ;  their  tops  reaching  to  the  very  clouds.*  There  the  tops  often  fe- 
parated  from  the  bodies;  and  thefe,  once  disjoined,  difperfed  in  the  air, 
and  did  not  appear  more.  Sometimes  they  were  broken  near  the  middle, 
as  if  flruck  with  a  large  cannon  fhot.  About  noon  they  began  to  advance 
with  cottilderable  fwiftnefs  upon  us,  the  wind  being  very  iirong  at  north. 
Eleven  of  them  ranged  along  fide  of  us  at  about  the  diflance  of  three 
miles.  The  largeft  oi  them  appeared  to  me  at  that  diflar.ce  to  be  about 

ten  feet    diameter It   was    in  vain  to   think  of  iiyir.g;    the  fwifteft 

horfe  or  the  fa.fted  failing  Ihip  could  be  of  no  ufe  to  carry  us  out  of  this 
danger;  and  the  full  periuafion  of  this  rivetted  me  as  if  to  the  fpot  where 
I  flood."  At  another  time  he  faw  them  in  much  greater  number,  but  of 
f  nailer  fue.  They  began  immediately  after  funrife,  like  a  thick  wood, 
and  almofl  darkened  the  fun.  His  rays  darting  through  them  gave  them 
the  appearance  of  pillars  of  fire.  They  now  approached  to  the  diftance  of 
two  miles  from  our  travellers.  At  another  time  they  appeared  beautifully 

fpangled 

N.  B.  In  thefe  fandy  deferts ,  where  it  never  rains,  there  arc  ne  clouds. 


THE    PLAGUE.  127 

The  induftry  of  other  experimenters  did  not  long 
leave  theorifts  without  abundance  of  materials  upon 
which  they  might  exercife  their  talents.  It  is  impoffi- 
ble  in  this  place  to  aflign  to  each  his  proper  rank  in  the 
way  of  difcovery,  or  indeed  to  mention  their  names, 
Dr.  Prieftley  has  diftinguifhed  himfelf  far  above  the  reft. 
He  not  only  repeated  and  improved  Dr.  Black's  experi- 
ments on  fixed  air •,  but  likewife  found  out  a  number  of 
other  kinds ;  particularly  that  from  animal  fubftances  in 
a  flare  of  putrefaction,  which  is  fo  pernicious  to  living 
creatures,  infects  excepted ;  for  thefe  laft  will  thrive 
amazingly  in  air  that  would  prove  certain  death  to  a 
man.  He  alfo  difcovered  that  this  kind  of  air,  and 
fome  others,  were  abforbed  by  vegetables,  and  thence 
inferred  the  ufe  of  vegetables  in  purifying  the  atmofphere. 
He  even  analyfed  the  atmofphere  itfelf,  and  found  that 

it 

fpangled  with  ftars.  In  Darwin's  Botanic  Garden  we  find  a  reafon  affigned 
for  the  appearance  of  thefe  whirlwinds;  viz.  the  impulfe  of  the  wind  on  a 
long  ledge  of  broken  rocks  which  bound  the  defert.  By  thefe  the  currents  of 
air  which  Oruck  their  fides  were  bent,  and  were  thus  like  eddies  in  a  ftream 
of  water  which  falls  againft  oblique  obftacles.  In  the  fame  work  we  have 
the  following  poetical  description  of  them  : 

««  Now  o'er  their  heads  the  whizzing  whirlwinds  breathe* 
And  the  live  defert  pants  and  heaves  beneath  ; 
Ting'd  by  the  crimfon  fun,  vaft  columns  rife 
Of  eddying  fands,  and  war  amid  the  ikies* 
In  red  arcades  the  billowy  plains  furround, 
And  whirling  turrets  ftalk  along  the  ground." 

Whether  the  fimoom  is  always  preceded  by  thefe  whirlwinds  we  know  not ; 
but  Mr.  Bruce  mentions  an  extreme  rednefs  of  the  air,  pointed  out  by  his  atten- 
dant Idris,  as  the  fure  prefage.  His  advice  was,  that  all  of  them,  upon  the 
approach  of  the  pernicious  blaft,  fhould  fall  upon  their  faces,  with  their 
mouths  on  the  earth,  and  hold  their  breath  as  long  as  pofiible,  fo  that  they 
might  not  inhale  the  deadly  vapour.  They  loon  had  occafion  to  follow  this 
advice  ;  for  next  day  Idris  called  out  to  them  to  fall  upon  their  faces,  for  the 
limoom  was  coming.  «*  I  faw  (fays  Mr.  15ruce)  from  the  S.  E.  a  haze  corn- 
"  ing,  in  colour  like  the  purple  part  of  the  rainbow,  but  not  fo  compreffed  or 
••  thick.  It  did  not  occupy  twenty  yards  in  breadth,  and  was  about  twelve 
**  feet  high  from  the  ground.  It  was  a  kind  of  blufh  upon  the  air,  and  it 
moved  very  rapidly  ;  for  I  could  fcarce  turn  to  tall  upon  the  ground,  with 
my  face  to  the  northward,  when  I  felt  the  heat  of  its  current  plainly  upon 
my  face.  We  all  lay  flat  on  the  ground,  as  if  dead,  till  Idris  told  us  it 
was  blown  over.  The  meteor,  or  purple  haze,  which  I  faw,  was  indeed 
palled  ;  but  the  light  air  that  flill  blew  was  of  heat  fufficient  to  threaten 
iutibcation.  For  my  part,  I  felt  diftin&ly  in  my  bread  that  I  had  imbibed 
a  part  of  it;  nor  was  I  free  of  an  afthmatic  fcnfation  till  I  had  been  fome 
months  in  Italy,  at  the  baths  of  Poretta,  near  two  years  afterwards."  It 
continued  to  blow  for  fome  time,  and  in  fuch  a  manner  as  entirely  to  ex- 
hauft  them,  though  fcarcely  fufficient  to  raife  a  leaf  from  the  ground. 

The  account  given  by  Mr.  Ives  is,  that  it  blows  over  the  defert  (of  Syria)  in 
the  months  of  July  and  Auguft,  from  the  northweft  quarter,  and  fometimes 

continues 


128  A    TREATISE    ON 

it  confided  of  two  different  kinds  of  fluids,  one  of  which 
he  called  dephlogifticated,  the  other  phlogi/licated  air. 
The  former  was  found  to  fupport  animal  life  for  a  time, 
the  latter  to  deflroy  it  inftantly.  Their  eflfeds  upon 
fire  were  the  fame ;  the  former  exciting  the  moft 
vehement  heat  and  bright  flame,  the  latter  extinguifh- 
ing  a^fire  at  once. 

The  fame  of  Dr.  Prieftley's  difcoveries  quickly  reached 
the  continent  of  Europe  ;  the  French  chemifts  repeated 
his  experiments  with  improvements,  as  they  thought ; 
and  indeed  certainly  made  many  curious  difcoveries. 
Lavoifier  was  particularly  remarkable  for  his  numerous 
and  accurate  experiments  ;  but,  by  his  changing  entirely 
the  language  of  former  chemifts,  and  fubftituting  a  fet 
of  new  terms  of  his  own  invention,  he  certainly  entailed 
the  greateft  curfe  upon  the  fcience  it  ever  met  with . 
It  belongs  not  to  this  tre'atife  to  give  an  account  of  his 
fyftem  farther  than  to  fay,  that,  from  the  immenfe 

proportion 

continues  with  all  its  violence  to  the  very  gates  of  Bagdad,  hut  never  affe&s 
any  body  within  its  walls.  Some  years  it  does  not  blow  at  all,  and  in  other;* 
it  comes  fix,  eight*  or  ten  times,  but  feldom  continues  more  than  a  few  mi- 
nutes at  a  time.  It  often  pafles  with  the  apparent  quicknefs  of  lightning. 
The  fign  of  its  approach  is  a  thick  haze»  which  appears  like  a  cloud  ef  duft 
rifing  out  of  the  horizon,  on  which  they  throw  themfelves  with  their  faces  on 
the  ground,  as  already  mentioned.  Camels  are  faid,  inftindively,  to  bury 
their  nofes  in  the  fand.  As  for  the  ftories  of  its  diflblving  the  cohefion  of  the 
body  in  fuch  a  manner  that  a  leg  or  an  arm  may  be  pulled  away  from  thole 
who  are  killed  by  it,  or  that  their  bodies  are  reduced  to  a  gelatinous  fubftance, 
we  cannot  by  any  means  give  credit  to  them.  From  its  extreme  quieknefs, 
and  luminous  appearance,  it  would  feem  to  be  an  electrical  phenomenon  im- 
mediately preceding  thofe  vehement  hot  winds  which  all  travellers  agree  in 
likening  to  the  vapour  illuing  from  a  large  oven  when  the  bread  is  newly  ta- 
ken out.  Its  eledtrical  nature  will  be  more  probable  from  the  account  given 
by  Mr.  Ives,  that  the  Arabians  fay  it  always  leaves  behind  it  a  very  fulphu- 
reous  fmell.  Thefe  particulars  do  not  at  all  accord  with  the  fuppoiltion  of 
its  conlifting  of  fixed  air.  I  have  indeed  been  allured  by  a  gentleman  long 
in  the  fervice  of  the  EnglHh  Eaft  India  Company,  that  the  famiel  cannot  pals 
over  a  rivec^  Hence  probably  it  has  been  fuppofed  to  be  a  blaft  of  fixed  air, 
bccaufe  this  fpecies  of  gas  is  readily  abforbed  by  water ;  but  wa  know  that 
the  fame  thing  would  alfo  take  place  with  any  quantity  of  eiedric  matters 
for  water  takes  up  this  alfo  much  more  completely  than  it  does  fixed  air. 

The  mofttes  are  invifible,  and  kill  in  an  inftant.     They  rife  from  old  volca- 
nic lavas,  and,  as  it  were,  creep  on  the  ground,  and  enter  into  houfes,   fn  that 
they  are  very  dangerous ;    but,  though  they  may  probably  con  fill  of  fixed  ai/, 
\ve  have  not  as  yet  any   direct  proof  of  it.     It  is  not  indeed  eafy  to  imagine 
why  any  lava  fhould  fuddenly  emit  a  great  quantity  of  fixed   air,   and  then 
as  fuddenly  ceafe;   nor  in  what  manner  the  ait  thus  emitted  fhould  contir.uj 
unmixed  with   the  atmofphere  ;    for  fixed  air  will  very  readily  mix  in 
manner,  iniornuch  that  a  large  quantity  of  it  being  let  looie   in   a  i^o:\ 
been  found  to  vanilh  entirely  in  lefsthan  halt  an  hour.     Sir  William  H«a;.'.~ 
ton  mentions  *  mofcte  having  got  into  the  palace  <?f  th?  king  of  Naples, 


THE   PLAGUE.  129 

proportion  of  condenfed  aerial  matter  foiind  in  mod 
terreftrial  fubftances,  he  and  his  followers  were  led  to 
conclude,  that  different  fpecies  of  air  conftitute  almoft 
the  whole  of  the  terraqueous  globe.  Water  particularly 
they  have  abfolutely  and  moft  pofitively  determined  to 
be  a  compofition  of  two  airs  condenfed,  viz.  the  dephlo- 
gifticated  and  inflammable*  which  they  call  oxygen  and 
hydrogen.  However,  this  doctrine  is  ftill  oppofed  by 
Dr.  Prieftley  and  fome  others. 

In   the  midft  of  fo  much  theory,  and  fo  many  new 
and  furprifing  difcoveries,  it  would  have  been  wonder- 
ful indeed  if  the  fcience  of  medicine  had  kept  free  from 
innovation.     It   did  not :    the  new  chemiftry,  with  all 
its  formidable  apparatus  of  hard  words,  was  introduced, 
and  thus  the  ftudy  of  the  fcience,  already  very  difficult, 
was  rendered  ftill  more  fo.     In  paffing  this  cenfure  upon 
the  modern  nomenclature ',  as  it  is  called,  I  arn  fenfible 
that  I  muft  rank  with  the  minority  ;  neverthelefs,  I  have 
the  fatisfaction  of  finding  that  I  am  not  altogether  fin- 
gular.    Dr.  Ferriar,  in  the  preface  to  his  fecond  volume, 
complains,  "  that,  with  every  attempt  towards  the  for- 
"  mation  of  a  fyftem,  new  applications  of  words  are  in- 
"  troduced,  which,  though  defirable  in  the  art  of  po- 
"  etry,  are  very  inconvenient  in  pathological  books,  eipe* 
"  cialiy  when  this  is  done  to  give  an  air  of  novelty  to 
"  old  theories  and  obfervations.     For,  between  the  an- 
"  cient  language,    which   practitioners  cannot  entirely 
"  reject,  and  the  new  dialect,  which  they  cannot  wholly 
"  adopt,  the  ftyle  of  medical  books  is  reduced  to  a  kind 
"  of  jargon,  that  the  author  himfelf  may  pofiibiy  under- 
"  (land,  but  which   his  readers  find  it  very  difficult  to 
"  unriddle.     Hence  refults  a  neglect  of  medical  litera- 
"  ture,  and  hence  the  pernicious  habit  of  regarding  as 
"  new  whatever  has  not  appeared  in  the  publications  of 
"  the  hft  half  century."     To  the  fame  or  a  fimilar  pur- 
pofe,  in  the  preface  to  his  firfl  volume,  he  cites  Qijin- 
tilian.     *"  Some  have  fuch  a  multitude  of  vain  words, 
that,  while  they  are  afraid  of  fpeaking  like  other  people, 

by 

*  Eft  etiam  in  quibufdam  turba  inanium  verborum.  qui  dum  communein 
loquendi  morem  reformidant,  dudti  fpecie  nitoris,  circumcum  gmaia»  copioia 
Joc^uacitate,  qu»  dicere  volunt. 

s 


130  A    TREATISE    ON 

by  a  kind  of  affected  elegance,  they  confound  every 
thing  they  have  to  fay  with  their  immenfe  loquacity." 

The  pneumatic  fyftem  naturally  arofe  from  a  confi- 
deration  of  the  competition  of  the  atmofphere  we 
breathe.  Finding  this  fluid  to  be  compofed  of  two 
others,  the  one  of  which  would  preferve  life  for  fome 
time  at  leaft,  and  the  other  inftantly  deftroy  it,  it  be- 
came natural  to  think  that  difeafes  might  be  produced 
by  any  considerable  variation  in  the  proportion  of  thefe 
ingredients.  An  inftrument  was  foon  invented  by 
which  any  confiderable  variation  in  this  refpect  might 
be  difcovered  j  but  upon  trial  this  was  found  to  be  of 
very  little  ufe.  Dr.  Prieftley  himfelf  tried,  by  means  of 
this  inftrument,  fome  very  offenfive  air  which  had  been 
brought  from  a  manufactory,  and  could  find  no  remark- 
able difference  between  it  and  that  which  was  ac- 
counted pure.  Still,  however,  it  was  evident  that  by  in- 
creafing  very  much  the  proportion  of  one  of  the  ingre- 
dients, fome  confiderable  alteration  might  be  produced, 
which  could  not  but  be  perceptible  in  the  human  body  ; 
and  this  led  to  the  application  of  aerial  chemiftry  to  dif- 
orclers  of  the  lungs.  The  mixture  chofen  for  this  pur- 
pofe  was  pure  dephlogiflicated  (oxygen)  with  inflam- 
mable air  (hydrogen ;)  and,  though  this  has  not  been 
known  to  effect  a  radical  cure,  it  certainly  has  given 
relief  in  many  cafes.  In  fevers  alfo  the  application  of 
fixed  air  (carbonic  acid)  hath  been  found  advantageous  $ 
but  with  regard  to  oxygen  and  fome  others  we  have  not 
yet  a  decided  inftance  of  their  good  effects  in  any  cafe. 
Dr.  Beddoes  indeed  is  of  opinion  that  it  would  be  of 
fervice  in  the  fea-fcurvy ;  but  in  this  (whether  his  con- 
jecture be  right  or  wrong)  the  theory  is  certainly  erro- 
neous, as  fhall  prefently  be  evinced. 

In  confideririg  the  pneumatic  fyftem  it  is  evident  that 
modern  chcm-ifts  have  fallen  into  the  fame  error  with 
their  predecefforsy  viz.  of  fuppofing  that  every  thing 
which  by  the  force  of  fire  or  otherwife  they  could 
produce,  from  any  fubftance,  previoufly  exifted  in  it. 
Hence,  as  from  a  piece  of  bone  for  inftance,  a  chemifl 
can  produce  water,  fait,  oil  and  earth,  it  was  fuppofed 

thai: 


THE   PLAGUE,  131 

that  thefe  four  were  the  principles  or  elements  of  the 
bone.  But  this  was  falfe  reafoning ;  for  if  thefe  were 
really  the  chemical  principles,  they  ought  to  have  been 
able  to  produce  fome.kind  of  bony  fubftance  by  mixing 
-them  together  after  they  had  been  diftilled.  But  no 
ftich  thing  could  be  done  ;,  and  though  we  mould  add 
to  the  mixture  the  whole  quantity  of  air  emitted  during 
the  diftillation,  and  which  efcaped  the  notice  of  ancient 
chemifts,  our  fuccefs  would  be  no  better.  In  like 
manner,  becaufe  in  certain  circumftances  oxygen  is 
obtained  from  the  flefh  of  animals,  it  has  been  con- 
cluded that  it  necefTarily  exifts  as  an  ingredient  in  their 
bodies  while  living  ;  and  that,  if  this  kind  of  air  happens 
to  predominate,  the  animal  will  be  affected  in  one  way, 
or  if  hydrogen  prevail,  in  another.  But  though  we  have 
already  quoted  Dr.  Girtanner  with  approbation  as 
having  obtained  oxygen  gas  from  frefh  meat,  yet  this 
does  not  by  any  means  prove  to  us  that  it  exifts  in  flefli 
as  one  of  its  component  parts.  Even  in  the  Doctor's 
experiment  it  was  neceflary  to  expofe  the  flefh  to  the 
atmofphere  in  order  to  procure  the  gas  by  diftillation; 
which  undoubtedly  muft  excite  a  ftrong  fufpicion  that 
the  air  in  queftion  come?  from  the  atmofphere  itfelf ;  and, 
if  this  is  the  cafe,  it  is  not  reafonable  to  fuppofe  that  a 
difeafe  could  be  cured  by  any  addition  of  oxygen  to  the 
folid  parts ;  becaufe,  though  found  flefh  may  have  an 
inclination  to  abforb  this  kind  of  air,  we  do  not  know 
whether  it  would  have  fuch  a  property  of  abforption  in  a 
clifeafed  ftate.  Indeed  in  the  (curvy,  which  Dr.  Beddoes 
choofes  as  an  example,  experiment  feems  to  determine 
in  favour  of  fixed  air  rather  than  any  other.  But  let  us 
hear  Dr.  Girtanner  himfelf,  who  has  at  large  difcufTed 
this  fubject  in  two  memoirs ;  one  upon  the  laws  of 
irritability,  and  another  on  the  principle  of  irritatibility. 
In  thefe  memoirs  we  find  the  Brunoman  doctrine  fet 
forth  with  fuch  filence  in  regard  to  Dr.  Brown  himfelf, 
that  forne  have  not  fcrupled  to  charge  Dr.  Girtanner 
with  literary  theft ;  but  this  is  a  matter  which  belongs 
not  to  us  to  confider  :  the  theory  may  be  very  good, 
whether  ftolen  or  not.  He  changes  the  word  excitabi- 
lity, 


i$i  A    TREATISE    ON 

//>y,  ufed  by  Dr.  Brown,  for  irritability  j  but  hath  the 
misfortune  of  not  being  able  to  tell  us  what  he  means 
by  it.  He  goes  on,  however,  to  diftinguim  the  three 
Hates  ot  tone  or  health,  accumulation,  and  exhaujliony  as 
other  Brunonians  do.  Health,  he  fays,  in  a  fibre  <4  con- 
"  fifts  in  a  certain  quantity  of  the  irritable  principle 
"  neceflary  for  its  preservation.  To  maintain  this  ftate, 
:c  the  action  of  the  ftimulus  muft  be  ftrong  enough  to 
•c  carry  off  from  the  fibre  the  furplus  of  this  irritable  prin- 
16  ciple,  which  the  lungs  and  the  circulation  of  the 
"  fluids  are  continually  fupplying.  For  this  a  certain 
c<  equilibrium  is  neceflary  between  the  ftimuli  applied 
"  and  the  irritability  of  the  fibre,  in  fine  that  the  fum  of 
16  all  the  ftimuli  acting  upon  it  may  be  always  nearly 
"  equal  -,  powerful  enough  to  carry  off  from  the  fibre 
<e  the  excefs  of  its  irritability,  and  not  fo  ftrong  as  to 

"  carry   off  more    than    this  excefs When  the 

"  fum  of  the  ftimuli  acting  upon  the  fibre  is  not  great 
"  enough  to  carry  off  all  its  excefs  of  irritability,  the 
"  irritable  principle  accumulates  in  the  fibre,  and  then 
"  it  is  found  in  that  ftate  which  I  call  the  ftale  of  accu- 
<c  mulation  >  the  irritable  principle  accumulates  in  the 
"  fibre,  its  irritability  is  augmented,  and  the  ftimuli  pro- 
*'  duce  much  ftronger  contractions  than  when  the  fibre 
"  only  retains  its  tone.  ....  When  the  fum  of  the 
"  ftimuli  ading  upon  the  fibre  is  too  great,  the  fibre 
"  is  deprived  not  only  of  the  excefs  of  its  irritability,  but 
<c  alfo  of  fome  portion  of  the  irritable  principle  neceflary 
"  for  the  tone  of  the  fibre  ;  or,  more  properly  fpeaking, 
"  the  fibre  lofes  more  irritability  than  it  receives,  and, 
s<  of  courfe,  in  a  fhort  time  finds  itfelf  in  a  ftate  of  ex- 
"  hauftion ;  and  this  exhauftion  will  be  either  temporary, 
<£  or  irreparable." 

Here  it  is  evident  that  we  have  nothing  but  Dr. 
Brown's  fyftem,  without  the  leaft  explanation  to  render 
it  more  intelligible.  A  definition  is  ftill  wanting.  This 
invifible  and  incomprchenfible  property  of  irritability 
ruins  our  whole  fabric  -9  nor  can  the  deficiency  be  fup- 
plied  by  human  art  or  ikill  :  of  confequence  we  muft 
abandon  this  part  of  the  fyftem  entirely,  and  come  to 

fomething 


THE   PLAGUE,  133 

fomething  more  cognizable  by  our  fenfes.  It  is  impof- 
fiblc,  however,  to  pafs  over  in  filence  the  amazing  inat- 
tentiorj  of  the  author,  in  imagining  that  on  fuch  unin- 
telligible principles  he  could  explain  other  phenomena. 
"  In  the  ftate  of  temporary  exhaujlion  (fays  he)  the  fibre 
"  lofes  its  tone,  and  fails  for  want  of  irritability.  The 
"  application  of  a  itimulus  while  it  is  in  this  ftate  will 
"  not  make  it  contract.  Provided  the  flimulus  be  not 
"  very  ftrong,  it  will  produce  no  effeft  at  all,  but  in  a 
"  ihort  time  the  irritable  principle  will  accumulate  afrefh 
"  in  the  fibre,  and  then  it  will  again  contraft.  It  is 
"  only  by  little  and  little  that  the  fibre  recovers  its  irri- 
"  tability.  This  truth,  I  dare  venture  to  fay,  is  as  new 
"  as  it  is  ftriking.  It  unfolds  a  vaft  number  of  phe- 
"  nomena  hitherto  inexplicable."  Here  we  have  no- 
thing but  the  pompous  declaration  of  a  fad  already 
well  known ;  viz.  that  not  only  a  fibre,  but  the  whole 
body,  may  be  in  a  ftate  of  temporary  infenflbility,  and 
yet  recover  either  of  itfelf  or  by  the  ufe  of  external  means. 
How  many  people  have  fallen  into  zfyncope,  and  yet  re- 
covered !  How  many  limbs  have  become  paralytic,  and 
in  time  recovered  their  fenfe  and  motion  !  Yet  this  is 
all  that  we  are  informed  of  with  fo  much  parade  and 
aflumption  of  novel ty.  We  know  that  when  "a  perfon. 
is  in  a  faint  he  is  infenfible  to  ordinary  ftimuli,  though 
very  ftrong  ones  will  roufe  him  ;  but  what  can  we  infer 
from  this  ?  Nothing  :  only  we  fee  it  is  fo.  Does  it  avail 
us  any  thing  to  be  told  that  during  the  time  of  fainting 
the  irritability  is  exhaufted,  and  "  in  a  fliort  time  the 
irritable  principle  will  accumulate  afrefh;"  in  which 
cafe  the  patient  will  no  doubt  recover,  unlefs  he  happens 
to  be  dead,  which  is  the  true  meaning  of  an  irreparable 
exhaujlion  of  the  irritability. 

In  fpeaking  of  the  principle  of  irritability  he  exprefles 

himfelf  in  the  following  manner.     "  I  think  that   the 

;<  oxygen  isabforbed  by  the  blood,   and  that  the  venous 

6  blood  is  oxygenated  in  the  lungs  during  refpiration. 

The  mod  celebrated  naturalifts  and  chemifts  are  of  a 
;c  different  opinion  :  they  think  that  the  oxygen  does 
-"  not  combine  with  the  venous  blood.  According  to 

"  then?. 


134  A    TREATISE    ON 

"  them,  this  lad  lofes  carbon  and  hydrogen,  and  re- 
-covers the  bright  colour  natural  to  it,  without  abforb- 

"  ing  any  thing  from  the  atmofphere After  hav- 

>£  ing  a  long  time  attended  the  phenomena  of  refpira- 
;<  titin,  and  made  many  experiments  upon  this  fubjecl:, 
"  Ithink  it  may  be  concluded  that  one  part  of  the 
"  oxygen  of  the  vital  air  combines  with  the  venous 
[<  blood,  of  which  it  changes  the  black  colour,  and 
'"makes  it  vermilion  ;*  the  fecond  part  of  the  oxygen 
"  unites  with  the  carbon  contained  in  the  carboriic-hy- 
"  drogen  gas,  which  exhales  from  the  venous  blood,  and 
"forms  Carbonic  acid  air ;  a  third  part  Unites  with  the 
M  carbon  of  the  mucus,  contained  in  great  quantities  in 
Ci  the  lungs,  and  which  is  continually  decompofmgj  this 
"  part  alfo  forms  carbonic  acid  air-;  a  fourth  part  of  the 
"  oxygen  combines  with  the  hydrogen  of  the  blood  to 
"  form  water."  : 

''  On  this  theory  I  (hall  only  obfervfc,  that  though  I  lay 
claim  to  the  former  part,  I  allow  the  Doctor  all  the  latter 
part  to  hirhfeify  particularly  where  he  fpeaks-  oi  the 
formation  of  water  tqjbe  exhaled  dunrj-g  refpiration.  The 
air  in  queftion  confifts  of  two  parts,  like  fixed  air  already 
mentioned.  One  of  thefe  is  capable -ot  being  attracted, 
condenfed,  or  united  witlvcertain  fiibftances  ;  the  other 
vanifhes,  leaving  no  other  traces  of -its.  having  ever  ex- 
ifted,  but  heat,  greater  qr  leis  according  to  circumftan- 
ces.  When  the  air  is  taken  into  the  blood,  one  part  of 
it  undoubtedly  combines  with  fomething  thrown  out  by 
the  lungs,  and  forms  fixed  air,  of  which  our  breath  con- 
tainsra  conficlerable  quantity.  We  know  certainly  that 
the  condenfable  part  of  fixed  air  is  formed  cut  of  the 
cond^nfable  part  of  the  oxygen,  with  certain  additions. 
As  therefore  great  part  of  this  condenfable  oxygen  is 
thrown  out  in  fixed  air  at  every  expiration,  it  is  natural 
to  fuppofe  that  all  of  it  is  fo  :  at  lead  we  cannot  know 

the 

*  Here  Dr.  Beddoes,  from  whofe  publication  this  account  of  Girtanner's 
npemoir  is  taken,  has  the  following  note:  ««  Dr.  Goodwyn  had  proved  thi* 
before.  Could  Dr.  Girtanner  be  ignorant  of  his  experiments  ?"  In  juftice 
to  myfelf,  however,  I  muft  obferve  that  this  very  do&rine  had  been  pubiifn- 
cjl  in  the  ENC  Y  c  LOP.ED.I  A  BRITANNICA  long  before  either  Dr.  Goodwyn 
or  Dr.  Girtanner  had  made  any  experiments  on  the  fubjedl.  It  may  ftill  be 
f«\en  under  the  article  BLOOD,  and  reafons  are  there  given  for  i'uppoiing  that 
'•nly  one  part  of  the  oxygen,  vi?>  the  elaftic  part,  can  be  abforbed. 


THE    PLAGUE.  135 

the  contrary  without, a  feries  of  very  difjicult  and  tedious 
experiments,  which  have  never  been  made  by  Dr.  Gir- 
tanner or  any  body  elie.  But  if  the  whole  of  this  con- 
deufable  part  b.e  thrown  out,  none  can  enter  the  blood 
by  the  breath  ;  and  confequently  whatever  true  oxygea 
may  afterwards  be  expelled  from  that  fluid,  muft  be  a 
factitious  iubftance,  formed  either  during  the  artificial 
procefs,  ufed  for  diftilling  it,  or  by  a  natural  procefs  in 
the  body  itieif.  It  is  not  therefore  at  all  probable  that 
the  oxygen  which  fleili  emits  in  diflillation  can  be  de- 
rived from  the  air  by  refpiration. 

Another  and  more  probable  fource  is  the  food  and 
drink  we  take  ;  al!  of  which  are  more  or  lefs  impregna- 
ted with  air  of  different  kinds,  particularly  fixed  air. 
This,  we  know,  very  readily  condenfes,  and  certainly 
will  do  fo  when  taken  into  the  body.  In  this  ftate  it 
not  only  may,  but  certainly  will,  pafs  into  the  blood, 
and  through  all  the  different  parts  of  the  body,  until, 
having  accomplifhed  its  purpofe,  whatever  that  maybe, 
it  is  thrown  out  by  infenflble  perfpiration,  as  has  been 
already  explained. 

The  conclusions  drawn  by  Dr.  Girtanner  from  his 
experiments  are,  i.  That  the  change  of  colour  which 
the  blood  undergoes  during  the  circulation  is  not  owing 
to  its  combination  with  hydrogen  air.*  2.  The  deep 

colour 

*  Here  it  is  neceflary  to  obferve,  for  the  fake  of  accuracy  and  perfpicuity, 
that,  in  the  new  chemiftry,  the  terms  of  which  are  now  very  generally  adoptecU 
the  words  oxygen  ar*d  hydrogen  when  mentioned  by  themfelves  are  not  under- 
ftood  to  lignity  any  kind  of  air,  but  what  I  have  called  the  condenfable  part 
of  the  air.  It  the  word  air  is  added,  then  the  whole  fubftance  of  the  fluid 
is  understood.  But  though  this  is  the  ftridt  orthod@x  language  of  the  new  - 
chemiftry,  it  is  impoffible  to  fay  whether  every  one  who  adopts  the  terms  be 
fufficiently  careful  in  this  refped.  Indeed  this  is  one  out  of  many  inconve- 
niences that  might  be  pointed  out  which  have  arifen  from  this  nomencla- 
ture ;  for  thus  the  mere  omiflion  of  a  monofyllable,  which  may  happen  in 
immberlefs  inftances,  totally  perverts  the  meaning  ot  the  author,  and  may 
of  courfelubjedi  him  to  unmerited  cenlure.,  Befides,  it  is  not  to  be  known, 
unlefs  the  author  tells  us  Co,  that  he  detigns  to  obferve  this  ftridnefs,  and 
ot  confequence  we  muft  in  multitudes  of  cafes  be  uncertain  of  the  meaning  of 
vrhat  wo  read.  Thus,  in  the  prefent  iaftance,  when  Dr.  Girtanner  fpe*ks  of  oxy- 
gen, we  know  not  certainly  whether  he  means  the  air  in  fubftance,  or  only  one  of 
its  component  parts.  Probably  he  means  the  condenfuble  or  folid  part.  If  he 
does  fo,  there  mull  be  a  very  material  difference  between  his  theory  and  that  laid 
down  in  the  Encyclopaedia,  and  which  is  fupported  throughout  this  treatife. 
In  the  latter  it  is  maintained  that  the  comieniable  part  is  thrown  out  by  the 
breath,  being  previoufly  converted  into  fixed  air,  while  the  elaftic  part  enters 
the  vital  fiuid»  communicating  to  it  not  only  the  red  colour,  but  heat,  and  tha 
principles  of  life  and  fenfation,  as  will  be  more  fully  explained  in  the  fequel. 


136  A    TREATISE    Otf 

colour  of  the  blood  in  the  veins  is  owing  to  the  carbon  it 
contains.  3.  That  the  vermilion  colour  of  the  arterial 
blood  proceeds  from  the  oxygen  with  which  the  blood 
is  conjoined  during  its  paffage  through  the  lungs. 

4.  That  refpi ration  is  a  procefs  exactly  analogous  to  the 
combuftion  and  oxydation  of  metals  $  that  thefe  pheno- 
mena are  the  fame,  and  to  be  explained  in  the  fame  manner, 

5.  That,  during  circulation,  the  blood  lofes  its  oxygen, 
and  charges  itfelf  with  carbonic  hydrogen  air,  by  means  of 
a  double  affinity.     6.  That,  during  the  diftribution  of 
the  oxygen  through  the  fyftem,  the  heat  which  was 
united  with  this  oxygen  efcapes  ;  hence  the  animal  heat. 
7.  That  the  great  capacity  of  arterial  blood  for  heat  is 
owing  to  the  oxygen  with  which  it  is  united  in  the 
lungs. 

On  thefe  proportions,  which  conftitute  in  a  great 
meafure  the  fundamental  principles  of  the  doctrine  of 
exygenation  of  the  human  body,  we  may  remark, 

i.  Nobody  can  reafonably  fuppofe  that  hydrogen»air 
is  the  caufe  of  the  dark  colour  of  the  blood  in  the  veins, 
becaufe  there  is  no  fource  from  which  it  can  be  derived  ; 
and,  befides,  it  is  certain  that  no  kind  of  air  can  exift  in 
its  elaftic  ftate  in  the  blood,  without  deftroying  the  life 
of  the  animal.  Some  experiments  proving  this  are 
given  by  Dr.  Girtanner  himfelf.  It  is  true  that  an  ae- 
rial vapour,  of  the  nature  of  fixed  air,  exhales  from  the 
body  by  infenfible  perfpiration ;  but  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  this  receives  its  elafticity  only  at  the  furface 
of  the  body,  and  is  expelled  the  moment  it  is  formed. 
It  has  indeed  been  proved,  by  undeniable  experiment, 
that  no  air  of  any  kind  exifts  in  the  larger  veins;  be- 
caufe a  portion  of  a  vein,  included  between  two  liga- 
tures, being  cut  out,  and  put  under  the  receiver  of  an  air- 
pump,  does  not  fwell  in  the  leaft  when  the  air  is  ex- 
haufted,  which  yet  mud  be  the  cafe,  did  the  final  left 
quantity  of  elaftic  air  exift  in  it.*  2.  When 

*  Hydrogen  air  is  the  fame  with  that  by  Dr.  Prieftley  called  irfammabl* 
^ir.  He  alio  difcovered  the  true  competition  of  it.  Having  included  a  tew 
grains  of  charcoal  in  the  receiver  of  an  air-pump*  and  exhaufted  the  air,  he 
heated  it  iq  vacuo  hy  means  of  a  Urge  burning  glafs.  The  charcoal  was 
entirely  volatilized  and  converted  into  this  kind  of  air.  He  found,  however,, 
that  without  loins  i'mali  portion  of  moifture  this  volatilization  did  not  take 
place. 


THE    PLAGUE.  137 

2.  When  the  Doctor  afferts  that  the  dark  colour  of 
the  venous  blood  is  owing  to  the  carbon  it  contains,  he 
is  in  the  firft  place  chargeable  with  the  error  of  former 
chemifts,  who  fuppofed  that  every  thing  which  could  be 
extracted  from  any  fubftance  by  fire,  exifted  previouflyin 
it,  in  thatvery  form  in  which  it  is  extracted  by  the  fire  5 
and  in  the  fecond  place  he  fpeaks  entirely  at  random, 
without  even  a  fhadow  of  proof.  Nay,  he  himfelf  tells 
us,  that  he  has  repeated  two  of  Dr.  Prieftley's  experi- 
ments, which  in  the  cleared  manner  demonftrate,  that 
neither  the  addition  nor  the  abftraction  of  carbon,  or 
any  thing  elfe,  give  this  dark  colour  to  the  venous 
blood.  "  A  fmall  glafs  tube  (fays  he)  filled  with  arte- 
"  rial  blood*  of  a  bright  vermilion,  was  fealed  hermeti- 
"  cally,*  and  expofed  to  the  light.  The  blood  chan- 
<e  ged  its  colour  by  degrees,  and  in  fix  days  became 
"  black  as  venous  blood*  The  fame  experiment  was 
"  repeated,  with  this  difference  only*  that  the  tube  was 
*'  expofed  to  heat,  and  not  to  the  light*  The  blood 
"  became  black  in  a  fhorter  time."  Jn  thefe  experi- 
ments it  is  plain,  that  if  the  blood  contained  oxygen  at 
firft,  it  did  fo  at  the  laft  $  the  fame  with  regard  to  car- 
bon. How  came  it  then  to  pafsj  that  without  either 
evaporation  of  the  former,  or  addition  of  the  latter,  the 
change  mould  be  produced  ?  If  the  oxygen  imbibed  by 
the  blood  in  the  lungs  was  fufEcient  to  produce  the  red 
colour,  why  did  it  not  preferve  it  ?  The  cafe  here  is  pre- 
cifely  fimilar  to  what  happens  with  the  calx  of  filver* 
When  that  metal  is  diflblved  in  aqua  fortis,  and  again 
reduced  to  a  folid  form,  it  appears  as  a  white  powder, 
and  will  preferve  its  colour  if  carefully  kept  from  the 
light  ;  but  if  a  vial  be  filled  with  it,  and  expofed  to  the 
fun,  that  fide  on  which  the  light  falls  will  in  a  fhort 
time  become  black,  and  this  though  the  vial  has  been 
ever  fo  carefully  fealed. f-  Formerly,  chemifts  had  a  me- 
thod 

*  A  glafs  tube  is  fealed  hermetically,  by  heating  the  open  end  or  ends* 
till  they  become  foft,  and  then  clofing  them  with  a  pair  of  pincers. 

f  Thus  letters,  or  other  characters,  may  be  curioufly  marked  upon  the  calx 
Within  the  vial,  by  cutting  them  out  in  paper,  and  then  patting  them  on  the 
fjde  to  be  expofed  to  the  light.  We  may  have  them  in  this  manner  cither 
dark  upon  a  white  ground,  or  white  upon  a  dark  ground. 

T 


138  A    TREATISE    ON 

thod  of  accounting  for  this  appearance,  as  well  as  that 
of  the  venous  blood,  by  what  they  called  the  evolution 
of  phlogifton  :  but  now  that  the  very  exiftence  ofphlo- 
gifton  is  denied,  we  are  deprived  of  this  refource.  But, 
whatever  words  we  may  ufe,  it  is  plain  that  in  neither 
cife  have  we  any  ideas  affixed  to  them  which  can  make 
the  matter  at  all  more  intelligible  than  it  was  before. 
But  with  regard  to  the  blood,  we  are  at  a  confiderable 
lofs  to  underftand  what  the  natural  colour  of  it  is  ;  and 
indeed  the  queftion  can  only  be  determined  by  exa- 
mining the  blood  of  a  fcetus  which  has  never  breathed. 
If  the  arterial  blood  of  fuch  a  fcetus  be  of  a  dark  colour, 
refembling  that  in  the  veins  of  a  grown  perfon,  we  muft 
look  upon  this  to  be  natural  to  it,  and  we  may  as  well 
inquire  why  a  rofe  is  red,  or  an  iris  blue,  as  why  the 
blood  is  of  a  dark,  and  not  of  a  bright  red.  But,  if  we 
find  this  dark  red  change  to  a  bright  fcarlet  in  the  arte- 
ries, as  foon  as  the  child  has  breathed,  we  have  as  much 
reafon  to  conclude  that  the  air  occafions  this  fuperioi" 
rednefs,  as  that  an  acid  is  the  caufe  of  a  red  colour  in 
the  fyrup  of  violets,  or  an  alkali  of  a  green  colour  in  the 
fame.  Experiments  are  yet  wanting  to  determine  this 
matter.  Mr.  Hunter  has  obferved  that  "  in  fuch  fre-* 
"  tufes  as  convert  animal  matter  into  nourifhment,  they 
"  moft  probably  have  it  (the  colour  of  the  blood)  influ- 
"  enced  by  the  air,  fuch  as  the  chick  in  the  egg,  al- 
"  though  not  by  means  of  the  lungs  of  the  chick,  we 
"  find  the  blood,  in  the  veins  of  their  temporary  lungs, 
"  of  a  florid  colour,  while  it  is  dark  in  the  arteries." — 
The  probability  therefore  is,  that  the  blood  is  naturally 
dark  ;  by  the  claftic1  principle  of  the  oxygen  that  it  is 
rendered  brighter  ,  and  that,  this  elaftic  principle  being 
expended  in  the  courfe  of  circulation,  the  fluid  reaf- 
fumes  its  original  colour. 

3.  Though  enough  has  already  been  faid  to  evince 
that  the  fuperior  rednefs  of  the  arterial  blood  is  derived 
from  oxygen  gas,  we  (hall  dill  quote  two  inftances  from 
Mr.  Hunrer's  Treat ife  on  the  Blood,  which  fet  this 
forth  in  the  cleared  manner;  and  thefe  inftances  are  the 
more  remarkable,  becaufe  they  demonftrate  the  pheno- 
mena 


THE    PLAGUE.  139 

mena  not  of  the  dead,  but  of  the  living  body,  i .  A  gen^ 
tleman  in  an  apoplexy,  who  Teemed  to  breathe  with 
great  difficulty,  was  bled  in  the  temporal  artery.  The 
blood  flowed  very  flowly,  and  for  a  long  time.  It  was  as 
dark  as  venous  blood.  He  was  relieved  by  the  opera- 
tion ;  but,  on  opening  the  fame  orifice  in  two  hours, 
the  blood  flowed  of  the  ufual  florid  colour.  2.  A  lady 
in  an  apoplexy  was  treated  in  the  fame  manner,  and  Mr. 
Hunter  obferved,  that  when  Ihe  breathed  freely,  the 
blood  from  the  temporal  artery  aflumed  a  bright  red 
colour ;  but  when  her  breathing  was  become  difficult, 
or  when  fhe  feemed  fcarce  to  breathe  at  all,  it  refumed 
its  dark  colour,  and  this  feveral  times  during  the  ope- 
ration. 

4.  Refpiration  is  not,  as  Dr.  Girtanner  fays,  a  pro- 
cefs  fimilar  to  the  combuftion  and  oxydation  (the  calci- 
nation) of  metals.  Some  of  thefe  by  calcination,  and 
all  of  them  in  the  opinion  of  Dr.  Girtanner,  unite  with 
the  condenfable  part  of  the  oxygen  contained  in  the  air, 
while  the  elaftic  part  is  diffipated  in  flame  or  heat.  The 
reverfe  of  this  takes  place  in  breathing  ;  for  here  the 
elaftic  part  of  the  oxygen  unites  with  the  blood,  and 
makes  it  warm,  while  the  condenfable  part,  uniting  with 
certain  particles  to  be  thrown  off  from  the  body,  pafTes 
away  in  fixed  air.  Thus  the  procefs  of  refpiration  does  not 
refemble  the  calcination  of  a  metal  (at  lead  acccording 
to  our  author's  opinion  of  that  operation)  but  rather  the 
inflammation  of  fome  combuflible  fubftance ;  for  in 
both  cafes  a  certain  quantity  of  carbon  is  found  to  be 
united  with  the  bafis  of  oxygen  in  the  atmofphere,  and 
thrown  off  from  the  place  of  combuftion ;  and  thus  a 
quantity  of  fixed  air  is  produced  from  every  burning 
fubftance.  Juft  fo  is  it  with  refpiration.  If  the  con- 
denfable part  of  the  oxygen  combined  with  the  blood, 
then  no  fixed  air  could  be  produced  ;  or  if  any  part  of 
the  oxygenous  bafe  was  abforbed,  it  muft  certainly  be 
known  by  a  proportional  deficiency  in  the  quantity  of 
fixed  air  produced.  But  there  are  no  experiments  made 
with  accuracy  fufficient  to  determine  this  point.  It  is 
true  that  many  very  able  phyfiologifts,  as  Bprelli,  Ju/ins 


140  A    TREATISE    ON 

&c.  have  been  of  opinion,  that  part  of  the  air  is  abfoN 
bed  hi  refpiration  ;  but  when  we  come  to  particulars  no- 
thing can  be  determined.  Dr.  Hales  by  experiment 
found  the  quantity  abforbed  to  be  a  Jixty-eighth  part  of 
the  whole  quantity  infpired  ;  but,  on  account  of  fuppofed 
errors,  he  ftates  it  only  at  an  hundred  and  thirty -fixth^wt. 
Between  thefe  two  the  difference  is  fo  enormous,  that 
we  know  not  how  to  draw  any  conclufion  from  them. 
The  French  chemifts  are  more  decifive,  and  agree  pretty 
well  with  one  another.  Chaptal  calculates  it  at  three 
hundred  and  fifty -three  ^  and  La  Metherie  at  three  hundred 
andfixty,  cubic  inches  in  an  hour.  Allowing  thefe  ex- 
periments to  be  juft,  the  next  queftion  is,  what  part  of 
the  air  is  abforbed.  Lavoifier  fays,  that  it  is  the  oxy- 
genous bafe,  or  the  fame  with  that  which  is  abforbed  in 
the  calcination  of  mercury.  But  how  comes  he  to  know 
this  ?  Surely  not  in  the  fame  way  that  he  determines  the 
abforption  of  it  by  mercury.  In  the  latter  cafe  he  takes 
a  certain  quantity  of  mercury,  includes  it  in  another 
known  quantity  of  oxygen  air,  and  heats  the  metal  by 
means  of  a  burning-glafs  or  otherwife  :  the  confequence 
is,  that  the  air  is  abforbed,  the  mercury  lofes  its  fluidity, 
and  is  increafed  in  weight.  The  metal  gains  the  whole 
weight  of  the  air  abforbed  ;  and,  by  another  procefs,  all 
the  air  and  all  the  metal,  or  very  nearly  fo,  may  be  ob- 
tained in  their  original  form.  This  experiment  is  fo 
decifive,  that  nothing  can  be  faid  againft  it  with  any  (ha- 
dow  of  reafon  ;  but  who  hath  made,  or  who  can  make, 
lirnilar  experiments  with  the  blood  of  a  living  man  ?  Such 
experiments  indeed  might  be  made,  if  injenjible  perfpira- 
tion  did  not  ftand  in  our  way.  Common  atmofpherical 
air  is  about  eight  hundred  times  lighter  than  water.  A 
cubic  inch  of  diftilled  water,  according  to  Dr.  Kirwan, 
weighs  two  hundred  and  fifty -three  grains  and  a  quarter. 
Oxygen  air  is  fomewhat  lighter  than  common  air :  we 
fhall  therefore  fuppofe  that  fix  hundred  inches  of  it  are 
equal  to  an  inch  of  water.  If  then  the  blood  abforb 
three  hundred  and  fixty  inches  of  air  in  one  hour,  it  will 
in  twenty-four  hours  have  abforbed  eight  thoufand  fix 
hundred  and  forty  inches,  equal  in  weight  to  fourteen 

inches 


THE   PLAGUE.  141 

Inches  of  water  and  two  fifths,  which  according  to 
Dr.  Kirwan's  eftimate  is  between  feven  and  eight 
ounces.  But  the  quantity  of  matter  infenfibly  perfpired 
in  that  time  is  fo  much  greater,  that  no  calculation  can 
be  made.  Here  is  one  mode  of  determining  the  quan- 
tity of  oxygen  infpired  totally  impracticable  in  the  hu- 
man body,  though  quite  eafy  and  practicable  in  the 
cafe  of  mercury.  The  other  mode  of  determining  it 
by  the  expulfion  of  oxygen  from  the  blood  is  equally 
impracticable.  Dr.  Girtanner  indeed  has  expelled  ox- 
ygen from  flefli;  but  we  know  not  in  what  proportion, 
nor  can  we  determine  whence  it  came.  With  regard  to 
this  laft,  indeed,  there  are  two  fources  allowed  by  Drs. 
Beddoes  and  Girtanner  themfelves;  viz.  the  abforption 
of  oxygen  by  the  lungs,  and  the  quantity  taken  in  with 
the  aliment.  A  third  fource  was  alfo  manifeft  from  Dr. 
Girtanaer's  experiments ;  viz.  abforption  from  the  at- 
mofphere  ;  for,  by  expofure  to  the  atmofphere,  flefh, 
which  had  once  parted  with  its  oxygen,  became  again 
impregnated  with  it.  In  this  cafe  therefore  we  mud 
acknowledge  that  the  uncertainty  of  the  abforption  by 
the  lungs  muft  be  extremely  great.  A  certain  quantity 
of  oxygen  is  undoubtedly  thrown  out  in  fixed  air.  How 
are  we  to  determine  this  quantity  ?  Certainly  not  by  the 
firft  reverie  that  happens  to  occupy  our  imagination, 
It  is  a  problem,  the  folution  of  which  miaft  be  attended 
with  the  utmoft  difficulty.  We  muft  know,  in  the  firft 
place,  how  much  oxygen  was  contained  in  the  air  infpi- 
red.  In  the  fecond  place  we  muft  know  the  quantity  of 
fixed  air  expired.  In  the  third  place  we  muft  exactly 
know  the  proportion  of  oxygen  contained  in  the  fixed 
air  thrown  out  by  the  breath.  In  the  fourth  place  we 
muft  determine  whether,  by  the  cqnverfion  of  oxygen 
into  fixed  air,  any  change  is  made  in  its  bulk.  For,  if 
this  (hall  be  jfound  to  be  the  cafe,  we  fhould  be  led  to 
fuppofe  an  abforptjion  or  augmentation  of  air  when  no 
{uch  thing  took  place.  This  point  therefore  ought  to 
be  determined  with  the  utmoft  accuracy.  In  the  fifth 
place  we  muft  exactly  know  how  much  azote,  Jepton, 
phlogifticated  ak  is  contained  in  the  atmofphere  infpired, 

and 


6( 


,     A    TREATISE    ON 

and  likewife  in  that  expired.  In  the  fixth  place,  we 
muil  be  allured  that  there  are  no  other  fluids  in  the  at- 
mofphere  capable  of  being  abforbed  by  the  lungs,  ex- 
cepting oxygen  and  azote.  Whether  there  are  any 
others  or  not,  hath  not  been  determined.  From  an 
exprefiion  of  Dr.  Fordyce,  he  would  feem  to  be  Ikeptical 
on  the  fubject.  "  The  atmofphere  (fays  he)  is  found 
"  to  confift  of  various  vapours,  of  which  air,  or,  as  it 
"  has  been  called,  pure  air,  or  refpirable  air,  (oxygen  air) 
"  forms  at  prefent  about  a  fourth.  Gas  (probably  fixed 
<c  air)  forms  fome  part  ;>f  but  the  greateft  part  confifts 
"  of  one  or  more  vapours,  which,  without  any  pofitive 
quality,  but  from  that  indolence  which  makes  mankind 
in  their  refearches  attempt  to  find  a  rejling  place,  have 
4<  been  confidered  by  many  chemifts  as  one  individual  fpecies, 
"  -under  the  names  of  phlogifticated  air"  &c.  In  the  fe- 
venth  place  we  ought  to  know  what  quant  ity  of  pure  oxy- 
gen, unconverted  into  fixed  air,  or  whether  any  fuch,  is 
thrown  out  by  the  breath.  That  a  quantity  of  this 
kind  of  air  is  really  thrown  out,  is  probable,  becaufe  we 
can  blow  up  a  fire  with  our  breath,  and  by  a  blow-pipe 
excite  a  moft  jntenfe  heat,  capable  of  melting  the  moft 
refractory  metals,  platina  excepted.  It  is  true  that  the 
eolipile,  by  the  mere  converlion  of  water  into  fteam,  will 
blow  up  a  fire  alfo  ;  though,  if  the  accefs  of  external  air 
be  denied,  the  blaft  of  the  eolipile  will  put  the  fire  out. 
Probably  the  breath  would  do  the  fame  ;  but  even  this 
cannot  be  accounted  a  decifive  proof  of  the  oxygen  be- 
ing totally  exhaufted  ;  for  the  moift  vapour  with  which 
the  breath  abounds  may  extinguifh  the  fire,  even  though 
fome  fmall  quantity  of  oxygen  fhould  remain  in  it.  It 
is  not,  however,  our  bulinefs  at  prefent  to  enter  minutely 
into  fuch  difcuftions.  From  what  has  been  already  faid, 

it 

•r  It  is  now  acknowledged  that  common  atmofpherica!  air  contains  a  portion 
of  what  Dr.  Black  and  Dr.  Prieftley  have  called  fixed  air ;  but  this  portion  is 
fo  fmall  (not  more  than  one  fiftieth  part,  according  to  Dr.  Anthony  Fothergill's 
Prize  Diflertation,  and  none  at  a//,  according  to  Dr.  Beddoes)  I  fay,  this 
proportion  is  fo  fmall,  that  we  cannot  fuppofe  it  to  conftitute  the  quantity  of 
fixed  air  thrown  out  by  the  breath,  which  is  very  conliderable.  Bolides,  fixed 
air,  of  all  others,  is  the  moft  readily  abforbed  ;  and,  indeed,  if  we  could  admit 
of  abforption  of  any  balis  of  air  in  the  prefent  cafe,  it  certainly  ought  to  be 
that  of  fixed  air ;  but  where  fuch  a  quantity  is  thrown  out,  we  cannot  w,el3 
of  any  abibrjuion. 


THE  PLAGUE.  143 

it  is  evident,  that  the  abforption  of  oxygen  by  the  blood, 
inflead  of  being  indubitably  eftablifhed,  is  of  all  things 
the  moft  uncertain  ;  the  requifites  for  determining  it  be- 
ing abfolutely  beyond  the  inveftigation  of  any  perfon, 
however  accurate.  We  may  indeed,  with  great  labour 
and  trouble,  determine  that  fome  part  of  the  air  is  ab- 
forbed  in  breathing  ;  but  what  that  part  is,  we  are  un- 
able to  difcover  from  any  chemical  inveftigation.  The 
opinion  of  the  iimplicity  of  metals,  and  their  being  re- 
duced to  a  calx  by  the  adhefion  of  oxygen,  has  been 
fo  implicitly,  and  in  a  manner  univerfally,  received,  that 
it  has  given  a  new  turn  to  phyfiology,  fo  that,  by  a  kind 
of  analogical  reafoning,  the  human  body  has  been  re- 
duced to  a  mere  chemical  apparatus,  the  operations  of 
which  may  be  calculated  as  we  can  do  the  event  of  ex- 
periments in  a  laboratory.  But,  after  a  very  long  and 
tedious  conteft,  Dr.  Prieftley  feems  at  laft  to  have  over- 
thrown this  doctrine  of  oxygenation,  even  in  the  inani- 
mate parts  of  the  creation  ;  fo  that  we  can  much  le(s 
apply  it  to  the  doctrines  of  life  and  animation.  His 
experiments  are  publiflied  in  the  third  number  of 
the  Medical  Repofitory,  volume  II,  and  fully  demon- 
ftrate,  that,  though  mercury  abforbs  oxygen  dur- 
ing calcination,  this  is  not  the  cafe  with  all  metals  ; 
that  in  many  cafes  the  oxygen  will  unite  with  other 
fubftances  in  preference  to  the  metal,  which  laft  is  ne- 
verthelefs  reduced  to  a  calx  as  though  it  had  united  with 
the  oxygen  ;  that  in  many  cafes  the  addition  of  weight 
gained  by  the  calx  is  owing  to  mere  water,  &c.  He 
has  likewife  iliown  that  phlogifticated  air  (azote)  is  not 
a  fimple  fubftance,  as  has  been  taught  by  the  new  che- 
mifts,  but  confifts,  as  well  as  fixed  air,  of  an  union  of 
oxygen  with  carbon,  or  at  leaft  with  the  black  matter 
of  burnt  bones,  with  which  he  made  the  experiment. 
Thefe  aerial  fluids  therefore  being  fo  eafily  convertible 
into  one  another,  and  the  uncertainty  of  the  changes  in 
bulk  which  may  occur  in  confequence  of  thefe  conver- 
fions  fo  great,  it  is  impoffible  to  fay  whether  a  portion 
of  the  atmofphere  in  fubftance,  i.  e.  both  oxygen  and 
azote,  is  abforbed,  as  phyficians  formerly  fuppofed ;  or 

whether 


i44  A    TREATISE    ON 

whether  a  portion  of  oxygen  air  alone  be  abforbed,  as  Dr. 
Beddoes  fuppofes ;  or  whether  only  the  elaftic  principle 
itfelf  is  abforbed,  and  the  diminution  in  bulk  made  in 
confequence  of  the  conversion  of  oxygen  into  fixed  air  ; 
I  fay,  thefe  matters  depend  on  circumftances  fo  much 
beyond  the  reach  of  our  fenfes,  that  if  we  come  to  any 
probable  conclufion  upon  the  fubjeet,  it  muft  be  by 
analogical  reafoning  from  other  known  facts,  not  from 
experiments  made  directly  upon  the  living  body ;  which, 
in  their  own  nature,  muft,  Iways  be  extremely  vague  and 
uncertain. 

5.  That,  during  the  circulation,  the  blood  charges 
itfelf  with  carbonic  hydrogen  air,  is  an  affertion  which 
cannot  be  eafily  admitted.  It  has  already  been  obferved, 
that,  by  the  air-pump,  venous  blood  does  not  appear  to 
contain  any  elaftic  fluid  whatever ;  and  it  is  alfo  certain** 
that  animals  cannot  bear  any  quantity  of  air  injected 
into  their  veins.  Dr.  Girtanner  himfelf  tried  feveral 
kinds,  and  all  of  them  proved  fatal.  Having  injecteti  a 
considerable  quantity  of  oxygen  air  into  the  jugular  vein  of 
a  dog,  the  animal  raifed  mod  terrible  outcries,  breathed 
very  quickly,  and  with  the  utmoft  difficulty  -,  by  little 
and  little  his  limbs  became  fliff,  he  fell  afleep,  and  died 
in  lefs  than  three  minutes.  On  injecting  into  the  vein 
of  another  dog  a  fmall  quantity  of  phlogifticated  air,  the 
animal  died  in  twenty  feconds.  With  carbonic  acid  gas 
(fixed  air)  a  third  dog  died  in  a  quarter  of  an  hour.  A 
fourth  was  killed  in  fix  minutes  by  nitrous  air.*  From 
thefe  experiments,  had  no  others  ever  been  made  on  the 
fubject,  it  feems  very  probable,  that  no  fpecies  of  air  can 
be  fafely  admitted  into  the  blood  in  its  elaftic  ftate.  If 
any  fuch  therefore  mould  naturally  be  produced  in  the 
body,  it  muft  either  be  inftantly  thrown  out,  or  difeafe 
muft  enfue.  Such  objections  to  the  Doctor's  theory  are 
fo  natural,  that  we  might  have  thought  he  would  have 
forefeen  and  provided  againft  them,  Inftead  of  this  he 
grounds  the  whole  upon  fuch  ilender  evidence  as  could 
not  be  admitted  in  the  moft  trifling  matter.  "  An  in- 

"  cifion 

*  Nitrous  air  is  that  fuffbcating  vapour  which  arifes  when  aqua  fortis -is- 
poured  upon  metals.  When  taken  into  the  lungs  It  deltroys  animal  life  more 
quickly  than  any  other  fpecies. 


THE    PLAGUE;  145 

^  eilion  (fays  be)  wa?  made  in  the  jugular  vein  of  a  flieep, 
"  and  the  blood  which  came  from  it.  was  received  into  a 
"  bottle  filled  with  nitrous  air.  When  the  bottle  was 
"  half  filled,  it  was  clofed.  The  blood  coagulated  im- 
"  mediately,  and  a  feparation  of  a  great  quantity  of  black- 
"  im  ferum  took  place.  The  day  after,  on  opening  the 
"  bottle,  a  Very  ftrong  fmell  of  nitrous  ether  (dulcified 
"  fpirit  of  nitre)  was  perceived,  the  nitrous  air  having 
"  been  changed  in  part  into  nitrous  ether  by  the  car- 
"  bonic  hydrogen  gas  of  the  blood.  This  experiment 
"  proves,  beyond  a  doubt,  that  the  venous  blood  contains 
"  carbonic  hydrogen  air ;  and  that  this  air  is  not  very  in- 
"  timately  mixed  with  it,  but  may  be  expelled  with  the 
«  greateft  eafe." 

On  reading  the  Doftor's  account  of  this  experiment, 
it  mud  be  very  obvious,  that,  however  decidedly  he  may 
be  of  opinion  that  it  proves  beyond  a  doubt  the  exiftence 
of  hydrogen  air  in  the  venous  blood,  yet  there  is  not  one 
folid  reafon,  from  what  he  fays,  for  fuppofing  any  fuch 
thing.  How  can  any  man  determine  from  the  mere 
fmell  offteep's  blood  taken  out  of  the  body  of  the  animal j> 
and  mixed  with  a  poifonous  vapour,  what  is  the  compofi- 
tion  of  human  blood  in  the  living  body  ?  In  the  cafe 
of  any  fubftance  fufpefted  to  contain  elaftic  air,  the  air- 
pump  will  always  afford  an  experimentum  cruets.  But  we 
know  that  venous  blood  does  not  yield  any  elaftic  vapour 
by  the  pump  :  if  inftead  of  bloody  however,  we  mould 
fill  a  portion  of  vein  with  beer,  cyder,  or  other  fermented 
liquor,  it  would  inftantly  difcover,  by  its  fwelling  up, 
that  it  really  contained  air  in  an  elaftic  ftate.  If  then 
from  the  tumefa&ion  of  the  vein  when  filled  with  fer- 
mented liquor  we  conclude  that  the  latter  contains  fixed 
air,  why  fh-ould  we  not,  from  the  non-tu'mefaelion  of  it 
when  filled  with  blood,  con-elude  that  the  vital  fluid 
contains  no  air  ?  If  Dr.  Girtanner  was  fo  well  allured 
that  the  venous  blood  contains  hydrogen  air,  he  ought  to 
have  expelled  fome  of  it  from  a  portion  of  the  blood, 
.noted,  the  difference  between  the  blood  which  had  loft 
its  air,  and  that  which  had  not,  and  then,  by  adding  the 
air  to  it  again,  reftored  the  blood  to  it?  former  ftate0 

U  Nothing 


146  A    TREATISE    ON 

Nothing  lefs  then  recompofition  can  prove  the  truth  of  & 
chemical  analyfis  ;  as  divifion  can  only  be  proved  by 
multiplication,  or  multiplication  by  divifion. 

From  all  that  has  been  faid,  we  may  fairly  conclude, 
that  no  proof  can  be  brought  fbfficient  to  prove  the  ex- 
iltence  either  of  oxygen  air  or  any  other  fpecies  of  aerial 
fluid,  in  its  elaftic  ftate,  in  the  blood.  Neither  can  we 
prove  that  any  part  of  the  condenfable  part  of  oxygen 
air  is  received  by  the  breath  in  the  lungs.  It  is,  how- 
ever, probable  that  this  condenfable  part  may  be  received 
into  the  ftomach  with  our  food  -s  that  having  pafTed 
through  the  various  channels  of  circulation,  and  arrived 
at-laft  at  the  furface,  it  there  refumes  its  aerial  nature  by 
combining  with  the  fuperfluous  heat  of  the  body,  and  is 
evaporated  through  the  pores  of  the  fkin  by  infenfible 
perforation.  The  aerial  vapour  which  pafles  off  by  thefe 
pores  indeed  has  been  difcovered  to  partake  of  the  nature 
c&  fixed  air  ;  but  we  know  that  this  fpecies  of  gas  always 
contains  the  ban's  of  oxygen,  being  indeed  compofed  of  it ; 
and  whether  the  oxygen  be  taken  into  the  body  in  its 
pure  ftate  or  not,  the  refult  would  undoubtedly  be  the 
fame  ;  for  an  union  would  be  formed  between  it  and 
the  carbonic  particles  to  be  thrown  off  from  the  body. 
But  thus  we  can  never  fuppofe  the  bafis  of  oxygen  or 
any  other  air  to  be  a  permanent  part  of  the  compofition 
of  our  bodies ;  nor  can  the  quantity  of  it  be  augmented 
by  breathing  any  kind  of  air.  The  readied  way  to  in- 
creafe  the  quantity  feems  to  be  by  drinking  fermented 
liquors.  Thus,  if  the  body  is  too  hot,  the  fuperfluous 
Leat  will  have  a  proper  fubje6t  to  aft  upon,  viz.  the  con- 
deniable  part  of  the  fixed  air  ;  and  hence  we  may  per- 
haps account  for  the  very  grateful  and  cooling  fenfation 
produced  by  drinking  thefe  liquors  in  fome  difeafes. 
With  Fefpeft  to  the  exiftence  of  carbon^  charcoal  or  hy- 
drogen in  the  blood,  it  is  probable  that  it  exifts  in  equal 
quantity  at  all  times,  being  indeed  the  fundementai  ma- 
terial of  the  whole  body,  and  probably  only  a  modifica- 
tion of  that  duft  from  whence  man  was  originally  taken. * 

When 

*  In  one  of  Dr.  Prieftley's  papers  above  quoted  he  fays,  that  c barceal  is  en- 
tirely of  vfgetab/e  origin  j  but  the  converfion  of  vegetable  into  animal  mat- 
ter. 


THE    PLAGUE.  147 


When  the  blood  therefore  grows  very  black,  when  the 
teeth  are  covered  with  a  black  fordes,  the  hands  become 
foul,  &c.  we  may  fay,  indeed  we  too  furely/^/,  that,  in 
fuch  cafes,  there  is  a  propenfity  in  the  body  to  return  to 
its  original  ftate  of  diflblution  ;  but  there  is  not  one  folid 
reafon  for  fuppofing  the  proportion  of  its  materials  to  be 
varied  ;  that  there  is  a  collection  of  oxygen  in  one  part, 
hydrogen  in  another,  or  in  mort  that  nature  can  admit  of 
any  fuch  difproportion  taking  place. 

6.  We  muft  noiv  confider  Dr.  Girtanner's  account 
of  the  origin  of  animal  heat,  which  is,  that,  "  during 
"  the  diftribiition  of  the  oxygen  through  the  fyftem^ 
"  the  heat  which  was  united  with  this  oxygen  efcapes ; 
"  hence  the  animal  heat  ;"  and,  "  that  the  great  capa- 
*'  city  of  the  arterial  blood  for  heat  is  owing  to  the  oxygen 
"  with  which  it  is  united  in  the  lungs." — This  leads  us 
to  confider  in  a  more  particular  rnanner  the  doctrine  of 
heat,  a  fubjed  hitherto  much  lefs  inveftigated  than  the 
importance  of  the  fubject  requires.  What  little  we  do 
know  of  this  matter  feems  to  be  almoft  entirely  owing  to 
Dr.  Black,  who  hath  difcovered  fome  very  remarkable 
phenomena  unknown  to  former  philofophers.  His  dif- 
tovery  here,  as  in  that  of  fixed  air,  was  accidental.  Mak- 
ing experiments  on  the  water  of  different  temperatures, 
he  found  that  the  mixture  would  always  be  an  arithme- 
tical mean  betwixt  the  two  quantities  mixed.  Thus, 

on 

ter,  which  we  daily  fee,  is  an  undoubted  proof  that  there  cannot  be  any  ef- 
fential  difference  between  them.  Even  the  bones  are  undoubtedly  produced 
from  vegetables  in  fuch  animals  as  feed  upon  vegetable  fubftances  ;  fo  that 
even  the  calcareous  earth  they  contain  is  plainly  of  vegetable  origin.  We  may 
fay  indeed  that  the  calcareous  particles  had  a  previous  exiftence  in  the  vege- 
tables ufed  by  the  animal  as  food  ;  but  we  may  fay  the  fame  of  the  particles 
of  the  blood,  flefli,  horns,  &c.  Befides,  Dr.  Prieftley  has  ihewn  that  every 
particle  ot  charcoal  may  be  volatilized  into  inflammable  air,  with  as  great  ac- 
curacy as  any  human  experiment  can  be  made;  fo  that  in  this  eafe  the  calca- 
reous particles,  if  any  fuch  there  were,  fhowed  themfelves  to  be  as  much 
charcoal  as  the  reft.  In  the  74th  volume  of  the  Philofophical  Tranfadions, 
Mr.  Watt  has  fhown,  that  dephlogifticated  fpirit  of  nitre  may  be  changed  into 
the  fmoking  and  phlogiflicated  kind  by  means  of  red-lead  or  magnefia  albat 
as  well  as  by  charcoal ;  of  confequence  there  can  be  no  effential  difference 
even  there.  In  fhort,  fo  wonderful  and  multifarious  are  the  transforming  or 
metamorphofing  powers  of  nature,  that  every  attempt  to  find  out  a  fubftance 
upon  which  thel'e  powers  cannot  aft,  will  be  found  altogether  vain,  and 
our  beft  conducted  and  mod  plauiible  experiments,  made  with  a  vie'w  to  dif- 
cover  the  ultimate  compolition  or  what  we  call  the  elements  of  bodies,  will  be 
found  mere  inaccuracy,  bungling  and  blunder.  . 


A    TREATISE    ON 

on  mixing  water  at  50  degrees  with  an  equal  quantity 
at  IQO,  the  temperature  of  the  mixture  would  be  75 
degrees  ;  but  if  inftead  of  ufing  water  only  he  took  fhow 
or  ice  for  one  of  the  quantities,  the  mixture  \vas  no  lon- 
ger an  arithmetical  mean  betwixt  the  two  temperatures, 
but  greatly  below  it  ;  fo  that  a  quantity  of  heat  ftemed 
to  be  totally  loft  and  in  a  manner  annihilated.  His  at- 
tention was  engaged  by  this  unexpected,  phenomenon,  and, 
profecuting  his  experiments,  he  found  that,  when  wafer 
was  converted  into  ice,  it  really  became  warmer  than  it 
was  before  j  and,  by  keeping  the  fluid  perfectly  ftill 
during  the  time  that  cold  was  applied,  he  was  able  to 
cool  it  to  27  degrees  of  Fahrenheit's  thermometer,,  which 
is  five  degrees  below  the  freezing  .point  ;  but  on  (bak- 
ing this  water  fo  cooled,  it  was'itiftantly  converted  in- 
to ice,  and  the  thermometer  rofe  to  32.  Qn  reverfing 
the  experiment  he  found  that  mere  fluidity  in  water  is 
not  fufficient  to  melt  ice.  A  confiderabie  degree  of 
heat  is  neceffary  ;  and  even  when  this  is  previoufly  gi- 
ven to  th'e  water,  the  whole  becomes  as  cold  as  ice  by 
the  time  that  the  iee  is  melted.  The  refult  of  his  ex- 
periments in  fhort  was  this  :  Water,  when  frozen,  ab- 
forbs  an  hundred  and  thirty-five  degrees  of  heat  before 
its  fluidity  can  be  reftored  :  that  is,  fuppofing  a  pound 
of  ice  at  the  temperature  of  32  to  be  mixed  with  a 
pound  of  water  at  the  temperature  of  32,  by  adding  133 
degrees,  fo  that  the  temperature  of  the  water  is  augmen? 
ted  to  167,  the  ice  will  indeed  be  melted,  but  the  tempe- 
rature of  the  whole  quantity  of  liquid  will  be  reduced 
to  32.  In  this  cafe  therefore  the  heat  manifeflly  affumes 
two  different  modes  of  a6tion  ;  one  in  which  it  adb  in- 
ternally upon  the  fubftance  of  the  body,  without  being 
fenfible  to  the  touch,  while  in  its  other  date  it  hath  no 
effect  iipon  the  internal  parts,  but  afreets  bodies  on  the 
outfide.  The  former; (late  therefore  the  Doctor  diftin- 
guifhed  by  the  name  of  latent  >  the  latter  by  that  oi  fen- 
fible heat. 

The  fame  theory  was  applied  to  explain  the  doctrine 
of  evaporation,  and  that'ih  the  moil  decifiye  and  fatis- 
factory  manner.  The  Doctor  found,  that,  in  the 

dift  illation 


-THE    PLAGUE.  149 

diftiljation  of  water,  much  more  heat  was  eommuni- 
Ciited  to  that  in  the  worm-tub  of  the  ftill,  than  could 
be  fuppofed  neceffary  to  raife  the  water  diftilled  to  212 
degrees,  which  is  the  utmoft  that  water  can  bear.  In 
profecuting  the  experiment  he  found  the  quantity  of 
heat  abforbed.by  the  water,  when  raifed  into  vapour, 
truly  furprifing;  no  lefs  than  a  thoujand  degrees;  an 
heat  more  than  fufficient  to  have  made  the  whole  quan- 
tity of  fluid  that  came  over  red  hot.  Some  objec- 
tions, however,  were  made  to  this  theory,  even  by  the 
Doftor's  friends.  Mr.  Watt,  particularly,  though  he 
could  not  deny  the  theory  derived  from  Dr.  Black's 
experiments,  yet  fuggefted  one,  which,  had  it  proved 
jfuccefsful,  would  have  overthrown  the  whole.  It  was 
this :  Let  water  be  diftilled  in  vacuo,  where  it  boils  with 
a  heat  of  97  degrees,  and  the  operation  muft  be  carried 
on  with  much  lefs  fuel,  and  with  much  greater  eafe,  than 
in  the  common  mode.  It  was  faid  that,  in  this  experi- 
ment, Dr.  Black  was  equally  concerned  with  Mr.  Watt; 
but,  in  a  perfonal  converfation  with  the  Doctor  himfelf, 
he  afiured  me  that  he  had  no  farther  concern  than  fore- 
telling that  the  experiment  would  not  fucceed,  which  it 
feems  did  not.  The  event  was  as  follows :  Mr.  Watt, 
determining  at  all  events  to  try  the  experiment,  caufecl 
Jo  be  made  a  copper  retort  and  receiver,  joined  together 
in  one  piece.  In  the  receiver  he  pierced  a  fmalj  hole, 
and,  heating  both  retort  and  receiver,  plunged  the  latter 
into  cold  water.  The  confequence  was,  that  a  confide- 
rable  quantity  of  water  entered  the  veflel,  and  was  eafily 
poured  back  into  the  retort,  as  a  fubject  for  diftillation. 
A  fire  being  now  applied,  the  water  was  foon  raifed  into 
fleam,  which  filled  both  retort  and  receiver,  and  in  a 
great  meafure  expelled  the  external  air.  The  fmall  ori- 
fice in  the  receiver  being  now  clofed,  and  the  receiver 
itfelf  plunged  into  cold  water,  the  diftillation  went  on 
in  vacuo  ;  for?  as  foon  as  any  of  the  fteam  was  condenfed, 
the  fpace  which  it  had  occupied  (according  to  Dr. 
Black  one  thoufand  and  Jixty-Jix  times  more  than  the  ori- 
ginal water)  was  become  abfolutely  empty,  and  more 
Jteam,  rarefied,  not  by  any  quantity  of  fenfible  heat, 

but 


150  A    TREATISE   ON 

but  merely  by  that  which  it  contained  in  a  latent  flats, 
would  occupy  the  place  of  the  former.  The  event  of 
the  experiment  fliowed  the  truth  of  Dr. 'Black's  theory. 
The  water  boiled,  and  fteam  was  rarfed  as  well  as  if 
accefs  had  been  given  to  the  air  ;  but  with  this  difference, 
that  the  upper  part  of  the  diftilling  veflfel  was  never  heat- 
ed above  what  the  hand  could  eafily  bear.  With  the 
water  in  the  cooler  it  was  quite  otherwife.  It  became 
hot  as  ufual,  and,  by  the  quantity  of  heat  it  received, 
plainly  demonftrated  that  the  vapour,  though  deftitute 
of  moft  of  \\sjenjible  -heat,  yet  contained  an  immenfe 
quantity  in  a  latent  flate.  The  faving  of  fuel  therefore 
in  the  praclice  of  diftillation,  which  was  Mr.  Watt's  ob- 
ject in  making  the  experiment,  was  quite  trifling,  and 
not  equal  to  the  trouble  of  filling  the  retort  with  liquid. 
The  do&rine  of  latent  heat  thus  eftablifhed,  furnifhed 
a  folution  of  many  phenomena  which  could  not  former- 
ly be  explained  in  a  fatisfactory  manner.  Thus  the 
melting  of  all  kinds  of  fubfbnces  was  found  to  be  owing 
to  an  abforption  of  heat,  while  their  condenfation  was  at- 
tended with  the  contrary.  Fluidity  in  all  cafes  was  ex- 
plained on  the  fame  principle ;  and  the  more  heat  that 
was  -abforbed,  the  more  fluid  the  matter  became.  Thus 
water,  when  in  a  condenfed  or  folid  (late,  abforbs  135 
degrees  of  heat  before  it  becomes  fluid.  A  thoufand  de- 
grees more  convert  it  into  vapour,  and  at  laft,  by  paf- 
jfing  through  the  intenfe  heat  of  a  glafs-houfe  furnace,  it 
is  converted  into  a  brilliant  flame,  and  augments  the 
heat  of  the  furnace  to  a  great  degree.  Hence  the  prac- 
tice in  glafs-houfes  of  throwing  water  into  the  afh-hole, 
the  vapour  of  which,  by  pafling  through  the  burning 
fuel,  makes  the  furnace  much  hotter  than  it  was.  In  a 
Jimihr  manner  were  explained  the  phenomana  of  cryftal- 
lization,  the dudility  of  metals,  the  heat  produced  by 
hammering  them,  and  the  hardnefs  produced  by  the  ope- 
ration, as  well  as  the  operation  of  annealing,  &c.  One 
other  phenomenon,  a  very  curious  one,  (hall  be  noticed, 
on  account  of  its  being  connected  with  the  fubjecl  of  this 
trcatife.  It  is  this  :  Let  a  fmall  veflel  filled  with  vitri- 
olic ether  be  put  into  a  larger  one  of  water,  and-bot-h 

included 


THE   PLAGUE.  151 

included  in  the  receiver  of  an  air-pump.  On  exhauft- 
ing  the  air,  the  ether  boils,  and  is  converted  into  va- 
pour, while  the  water  freezes.  This  (hows  that  heat 
does  not  always  aft  equally  upon  furrounding  bodies,  but 
has  a  tendency  to  enter  fome  in  preference  to  others ; 
and  from  other  experiments  it  appears,  that  this  pro- 
perty has  a  coniiderable  connexion  with  the  denlity  of  the 
bodies  concerned. 

Thus  one  flep  was  gained,-  and  it  was  univerfally  ad- 
mitted that  heat,  in  fome  cafes,  entered  bodies,  and  in 
others  was  thrown  out  of  them  ;  but  now  the  queflion 
arofe,  What  is  heat ;  and  by  what  laws  is  it  regulated, 
or  from  what  fource  is  it  derived  ?  Here  Dr.  Black 
himfelf  was  at  a  lofs  ;  for,  as  he  fuppofed  cold  to  be  a 
mere  non-entity,  and  only  to  confift  in  a  comparatively 
fmaller  degree  of  heat,  fome  phenomena  occurred  which 
would  not  eafily  admit  of  folution  upon  fuch  an  hypo- 
thefis.  With  thefe  Dr.  Black  did  not  meddle  much, 
but  others  were  bolder.  Dr.  Irving,  Profeflbr  of  Che- 
miftry  at  Glafgow,  undertook  to  explain  the  whole  myftery 
of  latent  heat  upon  the  lingle  principle  of  attraction. 
One  of  the  moft  puzzling  phenomena  in  the  way  of  Dr. 
Black's  theory  had  been,  that  in  fome  cafes  heat  and  cold 
feemed  to  repel  each  other,  and  a  very  remarkable  in- 
fiance  of  this  was,  that,  in  the  morning,  a  little  before 
funrife,  when  the  rays  of  light  pafs  through  tl)e  atmof- 
phere,  a  little  above  the  furface  of  the  earth,  the  air  then 
becomes  manifeftly  colder  than  even  at  midnight.  Dr. 
Irving' s  explanation  of  this  was,  that  that  the  fun's  rays 
attracted  heat  from  the  atmofphere,  and  thus  rendered  it 
colder.  Such  at  lead  was  the  explanation  given  in  an 
inaugural  differtation  by  Dr.  Cleghorn,  one  of  Dr.  Ir- 
ving's fcholars  ;  for  the  Doftor  himfelf  delivered  his 
opinions  only  to  them.  In  other  cafes  he  fuppofed  that 
different  fubftances  had  different  capacities  for  receiving 
heat  ,  and,  of  confequence,  mould  the/0n»,  or  rather 
the  infernal  conjlitution,  of  the  body  be  changed,  the  capa- 
city of  it  tor  receiving  heat  muflalfo  be  changed  ;  and  as 
an  attra&ion  fubfifts,  or  is  fuppofed  to  fubfift,  between 
heat  and  all  other  fubftances,  it  is  plain  that  while  this 

attraftion 


152  A   TREATISE    ON 

attra&ion  fubfifts,  if  the  capacity  of  any  fubftance  for 
receiving  heat  be  augmented,  it  will  imbibe  much  more 
than  it  would  have  done  had  its  former  conftitution  re- 
mained. Thus  water  in  its  liquid  ftate  contains  a  cer- 
tain quantity  of  heat;  we  may  therefore  fay  that  water 
has  a  capacity  for  receiving  heat  equal  to  one  to  ten,  or 
what  we  pleafe.  Vapour  has  a  capacity  for  containing 
heat  ten  times  greater  than  water.  Water  therefore,- 
when  converted  into  vapour,  will  imbibe  ten  times  the 
quantity  of  heat  that  the  water  contains ;  and,  again,  ori 
being  re-converted  into  water,  the  capacity  becoming 
what  it  was  before,  the  fuperfluous  quantity  muft  be 
thrown  out,  as  in  Dr.  Black's  experiments.  In  like 
manner,  when  a  metal  is  melted  by  the  fire,  the  capacity 
of  it  for  receiving  heat  is  changed  :  of  confequence  a 
great  quantity  is  imbibed,  and  again  expelled  by  the 
change  of  capacity  which  takes  place  on  its  becoming 
folid  ;  and  thus,  from  the  change  of  capacity^  in  differ- 
ent fubftances,  every  phenomenon  was  folved. 

This  db&rine  of  capacities  did  not  give  general  fatis- 
fadlion.  Dr.  Black  himfelf  faid  of  it,  that  it  was  nei- 
ther probable,  nor  ingenious-*  notwithftanding  which,  it 
continued  to  be  received,  and  even  very  generally  adop- 
ted. Dr.  Crawford,  fo  well  known  for  his  writings  on 
this  fubject,  jias  adopted  the  idea,  and  Dr.  Girtanner,  in 
the  paffage  above  quoted  from  him,  appears  to  be  of  the 
fame  opinion.  The  dodrine,  however,  had  feveral  op- 
ponents, among  whom  were  the  Monthly  Reviewers. 
In  their  account  of  N ichol Ton's  Firft  Principles  of  Che- 
miftry,  they  exprefs  themfelves  in  the  following  manner 
"  We  only  wiih,  that,  in  the  dodrine  of  heat,  he  had 
"  avoided,  which  he  might  eafily  have  done,  Dr.  Craw- 
"  ford's  idea  of  bodies  having  different  capacities  for 
*'  heat.  In  the  melting  of  ice,  for  inftancc,  a  quan- 
"  tity  of  heat  is  abforbed,  without  any  increafe  of  the 
;<  temperature,  that  is,  without  making  the  water  fenfi- 
"  bly  warmer  than  the  ice  before  its  liquefa&ion  5  which 

"  is 

*  Thefe  words  are  to  be  found  in  the  M.  S.  Copies  of  his  ledures circulated 
at  Edinburgh.  Dr.  Black  himfelr  never  pubHIhed  any  thing  to  the  work!  ujV- 
on  the  tubjett. 


THE   PLAGUE,  ij3 

"  is  fa'id  to  be  owing  to  the  water  having  a  greater  ca~ 
"  pacify  for  heat,  or  being  able  to  hold  more  of  it,  than 
"  the  ice  ;  and,  in  like  manner,  when  converted  into 
"  vapour,  its  capacity  is  further  increafed,  or  it  can  hold 
"  more  ftilL  This  appears  to  us  a  very  unchemical,  and 
"  a  very  inadequate  idea  of  the  matter  :  for,  admitting 
"  water  to  have  a  greater  capacity  than  ice,  how  is  'the 
"  change  from  one  ftate  to  the  other  to  be  effe&ed  ? 
"  Can  the  properties  which  a  body  is  found  to  poilefs, 
"  after  a  change  has  taken  place,  be  afiigned  as  a  caufe 
"  of  the  change  icfelf  ?  Or  will  it  be  faid,  that  the  heat 
"  firft  enlarges  the  capacity,  and  then  hides  itfelf  in  that 
<c  capacity  fo  enlarged  ?  We  mould  think  it  much  bet- 
"  ter  to  fay,  confonantly  with  the  phenomena  of  other 
"  combinations  in  chemiftry,  that  a  certain  quantity  of 
"  heat,  uniting  with  the  ice,  firft  liquefies  it,  as  a  certain 
<c  quantity  of  acid  only  neutralizes  an  alkali  $  that  if 
"  any  furplus  quantity  muft  be  introduced,  that  furplus* 
"  remianing  free  and  uncombined,  muft  ad  and  be  fen- 
"  fible  as  heat  in  the  one  cafe,  and  acid  other  $  and  that 
"  different  bodies  require  different  quantities  of  heat  or 
"  acid  to  be  combined  with  them,  for  producing  the 
"  changes  in  queftion."* 

Thus  the  Reviewers,  as  well  as  others,  reafoned  a  pri- 
ori, and  feveral  facts  were  adduced  to  prove  that  no  fuch 
changes  in  capacity  could  take  place*  But  however 
ftrong  the  arguments  adduced,  or  however  plain  the  ex- 
periments might  be,  little  or  no  notice  was  taken  of  them, 
and  the  enlargement  or  diminution  of  capacities  has  been 
repeated,  feemingly  by  rote,  from  one  author  to  another, 
without  the  leaft  inquiry  or  inveftigation.  Dr.  Girtan- 
ner  indeed  fays  that  "  the  oxygen  united  with  the  arte- 
rial blood  in  the  lungs"  is  the  caufe  of  the  great  capacity 
of  the  arterial  blood  for  heat.  But  this  is  affigning  a 
very  doubtful  caufe  for  a  very  doubtful  effect.  He 
ought  to  have  proved  in  the  firft  place  that  arterial  blood 
really  has  this  capacity  ;  for  its  being  hotter  than  the 
blood  of  the  veins,  only  (hews  that  it  parts  with  more 
heat  to  furround ing  bodies  than  venous  blood  does  ; 

X  whict* 

*  Monthly  Reywwi  for  17901  p.  lf$» 


r"54  <  A    TREATISE    ON 

which  is  a  proof  that  it  contains  lefs  heat,  if  there  be  any 
difference,  than  that  of  the  veins.  But  the  truth  is,  that 
the  capacity  for  containing  heat  depends  rteither  on  the 
oxygenation  nor  hydrogenation  of  a  fluid,  but  upon  its 
denfity.  The  more  fluid  and  the  more  eafily  expanfi- 
ble  into  vapour  that  any  fubftance  is,  ttie  greater  quan- 
tity of  heat  it  is  capable  of  containing,  and  vice  verfa. 
This  has  been  fully  afcertained  by  Mr.  William  Jones, 
an  Englifh  clergyman,  whofe  obfervations  on  the  gene- 
rally received  fyftem  of  philofophy  contain  many  parti- 
culars worthy  of  attention.  From  his  experiments  it  ap- 
pears that  a  piece  of  red-hot  iron,  thrown  into  water, 
imparts  much  lefs  Jenjible  heat  to  it,  and  isitfelfmuch 
more  effectually  quenched,  than  by  throwing  it  into  an 
equal  quantity  of  quick-  filver  of  the  fame  temperature 
with  the  water.  As  the  quick-filyer  therefore  becomes 
much  hotter  to  the  touch  than  water  does  upon  throw- 
ing a  piece  of  red-hot  iron  into  it,  and  as  the  iron  itfelf  is 
much  more  imperfectly  quenched  by  the  metal  than  by 
the  water,  it  follows  that  the  latter  is  capable  of  contain- 
ing much  more  heat  than  the  former.  But  fuch  experi- 
ments^are  not  applicable  to  the  blood.  Though  that  of  the 
arteries  may  be  fomewhat  hotter  than  the  venous  blood, 
yet  the  reafon  is  obvious.  The  heat  is  communicated 
directly  to  the  arterial  blood  in  the  lungs  ;  but  during 
the  circulation  a  part  of  it  evaporates,  and  the  farther 
cliftant  any  part  is  from  the  lungs,  the  more  cool  will 
the  vital  fluid  be,  without  regard  to  any  alteration  of 
capacity ,  which  indeed  never  can  be  fliown  to  exift. 

But  the  moft  decifive  experiments  againfl  any  fup- 
pofed  alteration  in  the  capacities  of  bodies  for  contain- 
ing heat  are  thofe  lately  tried  by  Count  Rumford,  and 
related  in  the  Philofophical  Tranfactions  for  1798.  His 
attention  to  this  fubject  was  engaged  by  obferving  the 
great  degree  of  heat  acquired  by  a  brafs  gun  during  the 
time  of  boring  it,*  and  dill-more  by  the  intenfe  heat 
(much  greater  than  that  of  boiling  water)  of  the  metal- 
lic chips  feparated  from  it  by  the  borer.  From  a  confi- 

deration 

n 

*  Count  Rumford  was  fuperimtendant  of  boring  th«  <annon  in  the  work- 
fhops  of  the  military  hofpital  at  Munich- 


THE    PLAGUED  155 

deration  of  thefe  things  he  was  naturally  led  to  the  fol^ 
lowing  inquiries.  "  Whence  comes  the  heat  actually 
*'  produced  in  this  mechanical  operation  ?  Is  itfurnifh- 
<£  ed  by  the  metallic  chips  which  are  feparated  by  the 
"  borer  from  the  folid  mafs  of  metal  ?  If  this  were  the 
"  cafe,  then,  according  to  the  modern  doctrine  of  caloric, 
"  the  capacity  for  heat  of  the  parts  of  the  metal  fo  redu- 
"  ced  to  chips,  ought  not  only  to  be  changed,  but  the 
"  change  undergone  by  them  be  fufficiently  great  to  ao 
"  count  for  #//the  heat  produced.  But  no  fuch  change 
<c  had  taken  place;  for  I  found,  that  by  taking  equal 
"  quantities  by  weight  of  thefe  chips,  and  of  thin  flips  of 
"  the  fame  block  of  metal,  feparated  by  means  of  a  fine 
"  faw,  and  putting  them  at  the  fame  temperature,  that 
"  of  boiling  water,  and  putting  them  into  equal  quanti- 
<e  ties  of  cold  water  (that  is  to  fay,  at  59^-  of  Fahrenheit) 
"  the  portion  of  water  into  which  the  chips  were  put, 
"  was  not,  to  all  appearance,  heated  either  lefs  or  more 
'*  than  the  other  portion  in  which  the  flips  were  put." 

From  this  experiment,  feveral  times  repeated  with  the 
fame  refult,  Count,  Rumford  inferred,  that  the  heat 
could  not  poflibly  have  been  furnimed  at  the  expenfe  of 
the  latent  heat  of  the  metallic  chips.  He  then  proceed- 
ed to  afcertain  "  hew  much  heat  was  actually  generated 
•"  by  friction,  when  a  blunt  fteel  borer  being  fo  forcibly 
"  (hoved  (by  means  of  a  ftrong  fcrew)  againft  the  bottom 
"  of  the  bore  of  the  cylinder,  [of  the  machine  in  ufe] 
"  that  the  preffure  againft  it  was  equal  to  the  weight  of 
"  about  ten  thoufand  Ib.  avoirdupois,  the  cylinder 
"  being  turned  round  on  its  axis  (by  the  power  of  horf- 
"  es)  at  the  rate  of  about  thirty-two  times  in  a  minute." 
In  this  experiment  the  metallic  duft  or  fcaly  matter  de- 
tached from  the  cylinder  by  the  borer  weighed  only  837 
grains  troy ;  but,  fays  the  author,  "  Is  it  poffible  that 
"  the  very  confiderable  quantity  of  heat  produced  in  this 
"  experiment  (a  quantity  which  actually  raifed  the 
"  temperature  of  above  113  Ib.  of  gun-metal  at  leaft  70 
ic  degrees  of  Fahrenheit's  thermometer,  and  which  of 
"  courfe  would  have  been  capable  of  melting  6-J-  Ibs.  of 
"  ice,  or  making  near  five  pounds  of  ice-cold  water  to 

*'  boil) 


iS6  A   TREATISE   ON 

"  boil)  could  have  been  furnimed  by  fo  inconfiderable  a 
"  quantity  of  metallic  duft,  and  this  merely  in  confe- 
"  quence  of  a  change  of  its  capacity  for  heat  ?  As  the 
"  weight  of  this  metallic  duft  (837  grains  troy)  amoun- 
"  ted  to  no  more  than  one  948th  part  of  that  of  the 
"  cylinder,  it  muft  have  loft  no  lefs  than  948  degrees  of 
"  heat  to  have  been  able  to  raife  the  temperature  of  the 
"  cylinder  one  degree ;  and  confequently  it  muft  have 
"  given  off  more  than^^-^-v  thoufand^  three  hundred  and 
"Jixty  degrees  of  heat  to  have  produced  the  effects  which 
"  were  actually  found  to  have  been  produced  in  this 
"  experiment." 

It  was  next  confidered  whether  the  air  did  not  con- 
tribute to  the  generation  of  this  heat ;    and  our  author 
determined  that  this  could  not  be  the  cafe  ;  becaufe  the 
quantity  of  heat  generated  was  not  fenfibly  diminifhed 
when  the  free  accefs  of  air  was  prevented.     From  ano- 
ther experiment  it  appeared  that  the  generation  of  the 
heat  was  neither  prevented  nor  retarded  by  keeping  the 
apparatus  immerfed  in  water.     Here  the  friction  gene- 
rated fo  much  heat,  that  in  one  hour  the  temperature  of 
the  water  furounding  the  cylinder  was  raifed  from  60  to 
107  degrees  of  Fahrenheit,     In  half  an  hour  more  it  was 
raifed  to  142  ;  at  the  end  of  two  hours  to  178 ;  at  two 
hours  20  minutes  to  zoo  ;  and  in  two  hours  and  a  half 
it  boiled.*    On  the  whole,  Count  Rumford  concludes, 
that  "  the  quantity  of  heat,  produced  equably  by  the 
"  friction  of  the  blunt  borer  againft  the  bottom  of  the 
"  hollow  metallic  cylinder,  was  greater  than  that  produced 
"  equably  in  the  combuftion  of  nine  zvax  candles,  each 
<c  three  quarters  of  an  inch  diameter,  all  burning  at  the 
"  fame  time  with  a  clear,  bright  flame."     From  all  thefe 
experiments,  however,  our  author  does  not  draw  any  cer^ 
tain  conclusion.     "  What  is  heat  ?    (fays  he.)  Is  there 
"any   fuch  thing  as  an  igneous  fluid  ?     Is  there  any 
"  thing  that  can  with  propriety  be  called  caloric  ?     The 
"  heat  produced,  in  the  author's  experiments,  by  the 
"  friction  of  two  metallic  furfaces,  was  not  furnifhed  by 
"  fmall  particles  of  metal,  detached  from  the  larger  folid 

"  on 

*The  quantity  was  two  gallons  and  a  quart,  wine  meafure. 


THE   PLAGUE.  157 

**  on  their  being  rubbed  together.  It  was  not  fupplied 
"  by  the  air,  becaufe  the  machinery  in  three  experiments 
"  was  kept  under  water,  and  the  accefs  of  atmofpherical 
"  air  completely  prevented.  It  was  not  furnifhed  by  the 
"  water  which  furrounded  the  machinery,  becaufe  this 
*c  water  was  continually  receiving  heat  from  the  machi- 
"  nery  and  could  not  at  the  fame  time  be  giving  to  and 
"receiving  heat  from  the  fame  body;  and  becaufe 
"  there  was  no  chemical  decomposition  of  any  part  of 
<e  this  water."  At  laft  he  obferves,  that  the  fource  of 
this  heat,  whatever  it  is,  muft  evidently  be  inexhauf- 
tible,  adding, that  "anything,  which  any  infutafed  body, 
*;  or  fyftem  of  bodies,  can  continue  to  furnifh  without  //- 
*'  mitation,  cannot  poffibly  be  a  material  fubjlance ;  and 
*c  it  appears  to  me  to  be  extremely  difficult,  if  not  quite 
<c  impofiible,  to  form  any  diftinct  idea  of  any  thing  ca- 
"  pable  of  being  excited  and  communicated,  in  the  man- 
*e  ner  the  heat  was  excited  and  communicated  in  thefc 
'"  experiments,  except  it  be  MOTION." 

On  this  laft  paragraph,  however,  it  is  obvious  to  re- 
mark, that  the  whole  force  of  the  argument  refts  upon 
an  injinuation,  that  the  cylinder  and  borer  were  infulated, 
or  cut  off  from  all  communication  with  any  other  ma* 
terial  fubftance.  Had  this  been  the  cafe,  then  no  doubt 
it  would  follow  that  an  endlefs  fupply  of  any  thing  mate- 
rial could  not  be  furnifhed  by  them  ;  but  if,  as  Dr. 
Boerhaave  and  many  other  learned  and  intelligent  per- 
ions  have  fuppofed,  fire  be  an  element  universally  pre- 
fent,  and  which  becomes  fenfible  to  the  touch  only  in 
confequence  of  a  particular  mode  of  action,  it  will  fol- 
low, that  no  fubftance  in  nature  can  be  infulated  with 
refpect  to  it  ;  but,  in  whatever  place,  and  for  whatever 
length  of  time,  any  fubftance  fhall  be  affected  in  fuch  a 
manner  as  to  agitate  this  fluid,  there  we  fhall  perceive  a 
production  of  heat  without  limitation,  even  though  heat 
itfelf  be  no  more  than  the  action  of  a  fluid  efTentially 
material,  though  invifible  to  us. 

Confiderations  of  this  kind  occurred  long  ago  to  the 
writer  of  this  treatife,  when  by  the  nature  of  his  employ- 
ment it  was  neceflary  for  him  to  fpeculate  upon  thefe 

fubjects* 


158  A   TREATISE    ON 

fubjects.  It  could  not  then  but  appear  to  him  that  tru 
theory  of  Dr.  Black  was  far  fuperior  to  any  that  had 
been  publifhed.  The  opinion, of  thofe  who  fuppofed 
fire  to  confift  in  the  vibratory  motion  of  the  paticles  of 
folid  bodies,  feemed  altogether  untenable.  It  is  impof- 
fible  to  explain  the  phenomena  of  heat  upon  ordinary 
mechanical  principles,  becaufe,  with  refpeft  to  all  ter- 
reftrial  fubftances,  heat  conftantly  appears  as  an  agent  > 
while  they  are  merely  faffive  ;  and  no  man  can  explain 
the  nature  of  a  caufe  from  its  effect.  Thus  one  of  the 
mod  obvious  effects  of  heat  is  expanjion,  or  enlargement 
of  bulk,  in  fu.ch  bodies  as  are  heated.  But  if  from  this 
fact  we  infer  that  the  parts  of  elementary  fire  are  repul- 
,live  of  one  another,  our  reafoning  is  certainiy  erroneous. 
In  like  manner,  when  we  are  not  fenfible  of  heat,  we 
are  not  ^authorifed  to  conclude  that  it  is  not  prefent ; 
for  Dr.  Bla£k  has  demonftrated  that  it  may  be  prefent 
in  very  great  quantity,  though  indifcoverable  either  by 
our  fenfes  or  by  a  thermometer. 

-  But,  with  regard  to  the  theory  publifhed  by  Dr. 
Black  himfelf,  it  is  evident  that,. though  one  part  of  it 
refts  on  the  folid  bafts  of  experiment,  the  other  is  foun- 
ded entirely  upon  hypothecs,  and  that  too  an  hypothe- 
lis  which  cannot  admit  of  being  proved  by  any  experi- 
ment, viz.  that  cold  is  a  mere  negative,  and  hath  no  real 
exiftence  in  nature.  Among  many  phenomena  which 
-militate  againft  this  opinion,  the  following  experi- 
ment of  M.  Geoffrey  feems  to  be  the  moft  remark- 
able. He  took  a  (mall  bafon  filled  with  water,  and  fet 
it  on  a  fupport  in  the  middle  of  a  large  tub  of  water, 
in  fuch  a  manner  that  the  temperature  of  the  water  in 
the  tub  might  communicate  itfelf  to  that -in  the  bafon. 
This  being  afcertained  by  a  thermometer  placed  in  the 
bafon,  he  threw  a  quantity  of  burning  coals  into  the 
tub.  The  effect  of  this,  on  the  fuppofition  that  cold  is 
a  mere  privation  of  heat,  ought  to  have  been,  that  the 
heat  of  the  coals,  communicated  to  the  water  in  the 
Jarge  tub,  would  in  a  fhort  time  pervade  the  fmall  ba- 
fon, and  affect  the  thermometer  there.  The  latter 
would  therefore  rife  ;  but  inltead  of  this  it  fell  feveral 

degrees 


THE    PLAGUE.  159 

degrees  before  it  began  to  rife ;  for  which  it  doth  not 
appear  that  any  other  reafon  can  be  affigned  than  that 
the  cold  is  partly  repelled  by  the  heat  of  the  coals, 
and  therefore,  entering  into  the  fmall  bafon  of  water,  it 
caufes  the  thermometer  to  fink  previous  to  its  rif- 
ing.  To  the  fame  purpofe  we  may  urge  the  phenome- 
non already  taken  notice  of,  viz.  that  the  fun's  rays, 
when  paffing  at  fome  diftance  above  the  furface  of  the 
earth,  cool  the  lower  part  of  the  atmofphere.  The  na- 
tural folution  is,  that  the  heat  of  the  fun  partly  repels 
the  cold  downwards ;  and  as  for  the  doctrine  of  attract- 
ing heat  from  the  atmofphere,  Count  Rumford  has  mown 
that  this  does  not  happen  in  a  cafe  where  we  might  with 
much  more  probability  expect  it ;  not  to  mention  the 
violence  done  to  the  common  perceptions  of  mankind 
by  fuppofing  the  fun's  rays,  which  are  moft  evidently 
the  fource  of  heat,  to  have  any  occafion  to  attract  heat 
from  the  atmofphere  or  any  thing  elfe. 

Laftly,  with  regard  to  the  capacities  of  bodies  for  con- 
taining heat,  the  doctrine  appears  to  involve  a  radical 
error,  of  fuch  enormous  magnitude,  that  it  is  impoffible 
to  make  any  thing  of  it.  This  is  no  lefs  than  con- 
founding the  heat  which  flows  out  from  bodies  with 
that  which  they  contain  as  an  effential  part  of  their 
compofition,  and  which  they  cannot  emit  without  being 
changed  into  fome  other  form.  Thus  the  capacity  of 
aqueous  vapour  for  containing  heat,  according  to  Dr. 
Black,  is  1000  degrees;  yet  without  decompofing  the 
\Tapour  it  would  have  been  impoffible  to  have  known 
this ;  for  vapour  is  often  extremely  cold  to  the  touch, 
and  a  thermometer  immerfed  in  it  will  fink  greatly. 
In  fliort,  all  that  we  can  know  about  the  capacity  of 
bodies  for  retaining  heat  is,  that  they  either  continue  to 
abforb  it,  or  we  may  continue  to  force  it  into  them,  till 
they  be  reduced  to  vapour.  It  is  doubtful  whether 
they  can  receive  more;  for  from  the  experiment  with 
Papin's  digefter,  formerly  mentioned,  it  appears  that  the 
additional  quantity  of  heat,  which  the  water  was  made 
to  receive,  very  quickly  left  it  as  foon  as  the  fleam  had 
room  to  expand. 

But, 


160  A    TREATISE   ON 

But,  to  come  to  a  conclufion  upon  this  fubject :  If 
we  will  inveftigate  the  nature  of  heat,  we  muft  do  it  as 
in  other  cafes,  viz.  by  making  the  igneous  fluid,  caloric^ 
or  what  we  pleafe  to  call  it,  the  object  of  our  fenfes ;  for 
we  cannot  reafon  fairly,  or  indeed  come  to  any  rational 
conclufion  at  all,  by  doing  otherwife.  In  this  invefti- 
gation  it  is  neceffary  to  attend  to  the  particulars  men- 
tioned by  Count  Rumford.  The  fluid  muft  be  om- 
niprefent  in  its  nature,  infinite  in  its  quantity*  and  equa- 
ble, uniform  and  inceflant  in  its  action  5  as  far  as  thefe 
epithets  can  be  applied  to  any  material  being*  There 
are  only  two  fluids  which  we  know  that  can  anfwer  to 
thefe  characteriftics.  "  The  one  is  the  light  of  the  fun, 
which  pervades  all  the  celeftial  fpaces  ;  the  other  the 
electric  fluid,  which  penetrates  every  terreftial  fubftance* 
Both  of  thefe  produce  heat,  unlimited  in  quantity,  as 
well  as  in  duration,  provided  their  action  be  continually 
kept  up.  The  mode  in  which  both  produce  heat  is  ex- 
actly the  fame,  viz.  by  converging  into  a  focus  ;  and 
the  greater  the  quantity,  the  greater  is  the  heat,  and  that 
without  any  limitation  either  as  to  intenfity  or  duration* 
With  regard  to  the  folar  rays,  it  has  long  been  known 
that  by  concentration  they  would  produce  heat ;  never-^ 
thelefs  it  was  unaccountably  doubted  whether  the  rays 
themfelves  were  the  matter  of  heat.  One  objection  to 
this  was,  that  on  the  tops  of  high  mountains  the  air  is 
exceedingly  cold,  though  the  fun  fhines  very  bright* 
But  this  objection  was  founded  upon  an  erroneous  notion 
that,  wherever  the  matter  of  heat  exifts,  there  we  muft 
feel  it ;  which  doth  not  follow  any  more  than  that 
wherever  air  exifts  there  we  muft  feel  a  wind  blowing 
upon  us.  Wind  is  air  in  motion,  and  ^keat  is  a  more 
fubtile  fluid  in  motion.  One  demonftration  of  this  is, 
that,  on  the  tops  of  the  higheft  mountains,  a  burning 
Jens  or  mirror  will  fet  fire  to  combuftible  bodies  as  readi- 
ly as  in  the  vallies  at  the  foot  of  them*  Neither  has 
heat,  properly  fo  called,  and  thing  to  do  with  air.  The 
focus  of  a  burning-glafs  will  heat  bodies  in  vacua  as  well 
as  in  the  open  air  5  and  Sir  Ifaac  Newton  has  obferved, 
that  if  a  thermometer  be  included  in  the  vacuum  of  an 

air-pump, 


THE  PLAGUE.  161 

air-pump,  it  will  acquire  the  temperature  of  the  room 
nearly  in  the  fame  time  that  another  will  when  included 
in  a  fimilar  glafs  without  any  exhauftion. 

The  fcience  of  electricity  is  but  of  late  date;  and 
•moil  violent  and  hypothetical  difputes  have  taken, 
place  concerning  the  nature  of  the  fluid.  Its  luminous 
and  burning  properties  naturally  led  a  number  of  people 
tofuppofe  that  it  was  elementary  fire  ;  but  this  was  op- 
pofed  by  others  with  as  much  violence  as  if  there  had 
been  fomething  criminal  in  the  fuppofition.  The  op- 
pofition,  however,  was  founded  upon  the  fame  error  with, 
that  about  the  folar  light.  It  was  imagined  that  wher- 
ever elementary  fire  exiited,  there  heat  mud  be  felt ;  and 
it  was  efpecially  urged,  that  electricity,  though  it  pro- 
duced light,  did  not  produce  any  heat,  except  when  it 
exploded  with  fuch  violence  as  to  penetrate  the  internal 
fubftance  of  bodies,  agitating  their  particles,  and  by  this 
Agitation  producing  heat.  It  has  now,  however,  been 
found,  that  the  ele&ric  aura,  as  it  is  called,  when  made 
to  converge  in  great  quantity  to  the  point  of  a  needle, 
will  heat  it  to  fuch  a  degree  as  to  fet  fire  to  gun-powder. 
This  (hows  that  heat  is  occafioned  by  the  conver- 
gence of  this  fluid  to  a  focus,  and  to  its  divergence  from 
it.  In  the  focal  point,  heat  will  always  take  place. 
From  the  experiments  of  Haukfbee,  Beccaria  and  Prieft- 
ley,  it  likewife  appears,  that  electricity  will  render  tranf- 
parent  the  moft  opaque  bodies,  fuch  as  fealing-wax, 
pitch,  &c.  which  even  the  mod  intenfe  light  of  the  fun 
cannot  do.  As  to  the  intenfity  of  the  heat  produced 
by  it,  experiments  have  fhown,  that  it  cannot  be  ex- 
ceeded even  by  that  of  the  moft  powerful  mirror.  Glo- 
bules of  gold  have  been  vitrified,  platina  melted,  and 
the  moil  infufible  fubftances  reduced  to  glafs,  by  means 
of  the  electric  (hock.  From  fo  many  evidences,  there- 
fore, it  appears  to  me  impoffible  to  conclude  otherwife 
than  that  the  light  of  the  fun  and  the  eleftric  fluid  are 
the  fame  thing;  and,  according  to  the  different  modes 
in  which  they  act,  they  produce  the  phenomena  of  heat 
and  light  in  all  their  varieties,  befides  a  multitude  of 
other  effects  of  which  we  cannot  have  any  perception. 

Y  «  We 


162  A    TREATISE    ONy 

We  may  indeed,  if  we  pleafe,  fuppofe  that  fome  Other 
thing  exifts  which  is  heat  itfelf,  and  that  the  light  or 
eie&ric  fluid  fets  in  motion,  attracts,  repels,  or  ads 
otherwife  upon  this  unknown  fornething  ;  juft  as  it 
comes  into  our  heads  to  fabricate  our  fyftem.  But,  until 
our  fenfes  can  difcover  in  fome  way  or  other  this  hidden 
fubftance,  reafon  will  always  fuggeil  that  it  has  no  exif- 
tence.  We  may  fay  that  without  fuch  a  fuppofition  we 
cannot  folve  the  phenomena  of  heat.  But  do  we  ever 
expect  to  folve  thefe  phenomena ;  or  do  we  know  all 
that  the  folar  light  and  electric  fluid  can  perform  ?  If 
\ve  do  not  know  what  they  can  do,  neither  do  we  know 
what  they  cannot ;  and  the  invention  of  other  fluids 
inuft  be  accounted  not  only  chimerical  but  ufelefs. 

But,  to  be  more  particular  :  on  the  fubject  of  heat 
people  have  embarrafled  themfelves  more  with  philofo 
phieal  reveries  than  by  any  real  difficulty,  and  rendered 
the  matter  more  ob feu-re  than  nature  has  made  it.  We 
have  already  obferved,  that  by  the  convergence  of  light, 
or  of  electricity,  heat  is  always  produced.  Here  we  can 
fee  the  mode  in  which  the  fluid  acts,  viz.  firft  by  con- 
verging, and  then  diverging.  When  the  light  falls  upon 
a  folid  body,  it  is  evident,  that  if  it  be  allowed  to  flow 
out  as  eafily  as  it  flows  in,  no  internal  agitation  of  the 
parts/or  of  any  fluid  contained  in  them,  can  take  place, 
Tranfparent  bodies  therefore  are  never  heated.  Again, 
if  the  light  be  not  allowed  to  enter  the  fubftance  of  a 
body,  but  is  entirely  reflected,-  the  body  cannot  be  heat- 
ed 'y  and  hence  it  is  very  difficult  to  melt  a  polifhed 
metal  even  by  a  ftrong  burning-glafs.  M.  Macquer's 
burning  mirror,  which  vitrified  flints,  could  not  melt 
filver.  But,  when  the  light  falls  upon  a  body  capable 
of  allowing  it  to  enter  its  fubftance,  at  the  fame  time 
that  it  cannot  get  out  without  difficulty,  it  is  plain  that 
the  force  of  the  fluid  will  be  exerted  in  order  to  over- 
come that  difficulty  ;.  the  body  will  be  expanded  in  all 
directions  -y  tfte  fluid  will  be  thrown  cut  in  the  fame 
manner,  and  the  more  that  the  internal  action  of  the 
light  prevails  over  that  power  by  which  the  parts  of  the 
body  cohere,  the  more  will  the  phenomena  of  heat  be 
perceptible,  'Again, 


THE    PLAGUE.  163 

Again,  let  us  fuppofe  that  the  etherial  fluid  enters  the 
fubftance  of  any  body  capable  of  being  dilated  to  a  great 
degree,  it  is  equally  plain  that  the  action  of  the  fluid 
muft  for  fome  time  be  directed  only  upon  the  internal 
parts,  and  confequently  will  be  imperceptible  on  the 
outfide.  This  then  is  called  latent  heat ;  and  where  the 
prefTure  on  the  outfide  balances  that  on  the  infide  no 
heat  will  be  perceptible  to  the  touch.  But  by  whatever 
means  this  balance  is  broken,  heat  will  inftantly  be  per- 
ceptible ;  and  experiments  (how  that  the  balance  may 
be  broken  either  by  an  increafe  of  cold  or  heat.  Thus, 
in  the  cafe  of  water,  the  internal  preflure  remains  equal 
to  the  external,  until  the  fluid  is  cooled  to  a  few  degrees 
below  32.  The  balance  is  then  broken,  and  the  inter- 
nal action  prevails  ;  a  quantity  of  what  is  called  fenfible 
heat  efcapes,  and  the  water  is  converted  into  ice.  Again, 
at  the  temperature  of  32,  little  or  none  of  the  water  eva- 
porates y  but  by  the  addition  of  heat,  by  which  the  in- 
ternal action  of  the  fubtile  fluid  we  (peak  of  becomes 
greater  than  the  external,  the  water  is  converted  into 
vapour ;  and  it  is  remarkable  that  the  fame  effect  takes 
place  on  greatly  augmenting  the  degree  of  cold  ;  for  the 
evaporation  from  ice,  even  in  frofty  weather,  is  found  to 
be  very  confiderable. 

On  the  whole,  from  innumerable  experiments  it  ap- 
pears, that  there  exifls  in  nature  a  certain  invifible  fluid, 
by  the  action  of  which,  when  diverging  from  a  centre, 
heat  is  produced  in  the  central  point.  By  a  certain  other 
power  this  diverging  force  is  limited,  fo  that  in  fome 
cafes  it  is  not  perceptible  beyond  the  furface  of  the  body 
in  which  it  ads,  and  then  it  is  called  latent  heat.  In 
other  cafes  it  is  perceptible  in  a  certain  degree,  and  the 
degree  in  which  it  is  perceptible  hath  been  called  the 
temperature  Gt  fenfible  heat  of  the  body.  On  mixing  dif- 
ferent fubftances  together  it  is  found,  that  very  often 
the  proportions  between  the  external  and  internal  actions 
are  varied.  This  has  been  already  obferved,  when  giv- 
ing an  account  of  Dr.  Black's  difcovery  of  latent  heat, 
viz.  that  when  fnow  and  warm  water  are  mixed  together 
the  temperature  of  the  mixture  differs  very  confiderably 

from 


164  A    TREATISE    ON 

from  the  arithmetical  mean  between  the  temperatures  of 
the  two  fubftances  employed.  Dr.  Crawford  profecuted 
the  experiment  further,  and  found  that  there  were  few 
fubftances  which,  on  being  mixed,  did  not  (hew  a  tempe- 
rature different  from  that  of  the  arithmetical  mean  be- 
tween the  temperatures  of  the  two  originally  employed. 
This  difference  he  unfortunately  ufed  as  the  foundation  of 
a  rule  for  determinining  the  capacities  of  different  fubftan- 
ces for  containing  heat,  and  upon  this  erroneous  princi- 
ple has  raifed  a  fuperftructure,  which  upon  no  occafion 
can  be  of  fervice  to  fcience,  but  muft  always  produce 
obfcurity  and  confufion  wherever  it  is  introduced. 

With  regard  to  the  power  which  fets  bounds  to  the 
expanfion  of  the  fluid  acting  as  heat,  it  is  natural  to 
think  that  it  can  be  no  other  than  the  fame  fluid  acting 
in  a  contrary  direction,  or  from  a  circumference  towards 
a  centre ;  and  thus  we  (hall  always  find  that  the  fame 
fluid,  by  limiting  its  own  operations,  may  produce  thofe 
phenomena  which  have  been  hitherto  deemed  fo  diffi- 
cult of  explanation.  In  what  manner  this  limitation  is 
in  all  cafes  effected,  or  indeed  in  any  cafe,  we  cannot' 
pretend  to  explain.  It  is  fufficient  to  obferve,  that 
wherever  there  is  a  perpetual  efflux  of  any  thing,  there 
inuft  be  alfo  a  perpetual  influx  at  the  fame  time,  and  in 
proportion  to  the  one  the  other  will  be.  Thefe  two  are 
directly  contrary  to  one  another,  and,  as  we  fuppofe  the 
fluid  to  be  univerfal,  it  is  evident,  that  if  any  part  of  it 
be  put  in  motion  in  a  particular  direction,1  the  reft  will 
prefs.  towards  that  part  where  the  motion  is,  in  order  to 
keep  up  the  equilibrium.  Hence  we  may  eafily  account 
for  the  heat  produced  by  percuffion  or  by  friction.  By 
hammering  apiece  of  iron,  as  Dr.  Black  juftly  obferves, 
the  fluid  is  forced  out  from  between  the  parts  of  the 
metal.  The  emiffion  of  this  fluid  in  all  dire&ions  is 
heat  itfelf  -,  and  no  fooner  is  one  quantity  thrown  out  than 
another  fupplies  its  place  with  great  rapidity,  and  fo  on, 
until  the  preffure  of  the  reft  in  fome  way  or  other  coun- 
teracts the  emiffion  of  any  more,  and  the  heat  ceafes. 
Tuft  fo  with. friction.  The  heat  produced  by  it  is  al- 
ways in  proportion  to  the  preffure  employed.  By  this, 

preffure 


THE    PLAGUE.  165 

greffure  the  parts  of  the  two  fubftances  are  forced  into 
Fuch  clofe  contad,  that  an  agitation  and  emiffion  of  the 
fluid  pervading  their  fubftance  takes  place.  This  agi- 
tation, as  we  have  already  noticed,  is  heat  itfelf,  and,  as 
long  as  the  friftion  is  continued,  more  and  more  heat 
will  be  produced,  without  any  limitation,  as  Count  Rum- 
ford  has  obferved. 

Some  bodies  have  a  greater  difpofition  than  others  to 
emit  this  fubtile  fluid  ;  and  thefe  we  fay  are  naturally 
of  a  warmer  temperature  than  others.  The  temperature 
is  nothing  elfe  than  the  efflux  of  the  fluid  from  them, 
continually  kept  up  by  the  a&ion  of  the  furround- 
ing  fluid.  By  mixture  with  different  fubftances  the 
temperatures  of  various  bodies  may  be  changed  ;  by 
fome  the  influx,  and  by  others  the  efflux,  may  be  aug- 
mented. In  the  former  cafe  we  fay  the  body  becomes 
colder,  in  the  latter  hotter,  than  before  ;  and  in  not  a 
few  cafes  the  agitation  of  the  fluid  becomes  fo  great  that 
the  matter  a&ually  takes  fire.  In  all  thefe  cafes,  how- 
ever, we  can  difcover  nothing  more  than  the  bare 
fad,  that  fo  and  fo  is  the  cafe.  We  know  that  the 
bodies  do  grow  hot  by  the  convergence  of  the  etherial 
fluid  towards  them,  and  its  emiflion  from  them  ;  but 
why  it  fhould  converge  or  diverge  we  know  not. 

Thus  much  with  regard  to  heat  in  general.  We  muft 
next  confider  another  fluid  which  has  very  generally  been 
accounted  the  fource  and  fountain  of  heat,  viz.  air. 
This  is  indeed  fo  much  the  fource  of  heat  in  all  our 
operations,  that  it  was  natural  to  think  it  the  only  one ; 
but  experiments  have  now  determined  that  air  itfelf 
is  a  mere  creature  of  heat  and  light  ;*  for,  by  em- 
ploying thefe  in  a  proper  manner,  airs  or  gafes  of  all 
kinds  have  been  produced.  Thus,  by  expofing  water  in 
a  glafs  veflel  for  fome  time  to  the  rays  of  the  fun,  a 
quantity  of  very  pure  oxygen  air  may  be  obtained  ;  by 
concentrating  the  fun's  rays  upon  charcoal,  inflammable 
air  may  be  had  ;  and  by  diftilling,  with  a  ftrong  heat, 
fubftances  of  various  kinds,  we  may  obtain  a  great  va- 
riety of  aerial  vapours.  From  all  this  we  may  reafona- 

bly 

*  J>r.  Prieftley  thinks  water  is  an  tfftntlal  in  the  compofition  of  air. 


,66  A    TREATISE    ON 

bly  conclude  that  heat,  attached  to  fome  other  fub- 
ffonce,  diflblved  in  it  in  fuch  a  manner  as  to  become 
invifible,  forms  the  fubftance  of  air.  Heat  therefore 
being  the  agent  in  the  competition  of  air,  it  is  reafona- 
ble  to  fuppofe  that  it  is  the  agent  in  its  decompoiition 
alfo,  or  in  its  transformation  from  one  fpecies  to 
another,  of  which  the  converfion  of  oxygen  into  fixed 
air  by  combuftion  is  an  inftance.  When  air  is 
taken  into  the  lungs  the  blood  is  warmed  by  the 
action  of  that  invifible  fluid,  which  has  already  given 
eiafticity  to  the  air.  In  confequence  of  a  confidera- 
ble  quantity  of  this  fluid  being  then  converted  from 
a  latent  into  a  fenfible  ftate,  part  of  the  elaftic  principle 
muft  be  loft,  and  the  air  diminiflied  in  bulk.  The  rea- 
fon  why  this  muft  conftantly  take  place  is,  that  part  of 
the  heat  evaporates  from  the  furface  of  the  body,  during 
the  courfe  of  circulation.  Were  it  not  fo,  the  quantity 
thrown  out  by  the  lungs  would  be  exactly  equal  to  that 
which  the  blood  received,  and  confequently  there  could 
be  no  diminution  between  the  bulk  of  the  air  expired 
and  that  wliich  was  infpired  ;  but,  on  account  of  the 
wafte  juft  mentioned,  the  blood  muft  always  receive 
fomewhat  more  than  it  gives  out  by  the  breath.  Thus, 
while  the  air  we  breathe  continues  the  fame,  and  the  or- 
ganization of  the  body  is  not  changed,  the  natural  ope- 
rations will  go  on  fmoothly,  and  health  will  continue  ; 
but,  as  we  have  formerly  obferved,  by  an  alteration  of 
either  of  thefe,  difeafe  muft  enfue  ;  and  we  muft  now 
endeavour,  from  the  principles  laid  down,  to  examine 
the  mode  in  which  epidemic  difeafes,  and  particularly 
the  plague,  may  be  produced. 

The  air  is  fo  evidently  conne&ed  with  human  life,  that 
it  has  been  from  the  earlieft  ages  accounted  the  fourcc 
of  peftilential  difeafes,  though,  as  none  of  the  more  ob^ 
vious  qualities  of  it,  fuch  as  heat,  cold,  moifture,  or 
clrynefs,  appeared  to  be  conne&ed  with  them,  they  were 
generally  fuppofed  to  proceed  from  the  action  of  fome 
unknown  natural  caufe,  or  from  that  of  the  Deity  him- 
felf.  Some,  however,  have  alfo  been  of  opinion  that 
plagues  might  originate  from  the  obvious  qualities  of 

the 


THE   PLAGUE.  167 

the  air  in  conjunction  with  certain  effluvia  from  putrid 
vegetable  or  animal  bodies.  Thus,  in  feveral  plagues 
mentioned  in  ancient  hiftory,  we  find  fwarms  of  dead 
locufts,  grafshoppers,  the  carcafes  of  thofe  flain  in  bat- 
tle, crowded  houfes,  and  filth  of  all  kinds,  affigned  as 
caufes.  This  opinion  was  adopted  by  Dr.  Mead,  and 
he  gives  the  following  account  of  the  origin  of  the 
plague  in  Egypt.  "  Grand  Cairo  is  crowded  with  in- 
"  habitants,  who  for  the  moft  part  live  very  poorly  and 
**  naftily ;  the  ftreets  are  narrow  and  clofe  ;  it  is  lituate 
"  in  a  fandy  plain,  at  the  foot  of  a  mountain,  which, 
"  by  keeping  off  the  winds  that  would  refrefh  the  air, 
"  makes  the  heats  very  ftifling.  Through  the  midfl  of 
"  the  city  paffes  a  great  canal,  which  is  filled  with  water 
s<  at  the  overflowing  of  the  Nile  ;  and,  after  the  river 
"  decreafes,  is  gradually  dried  up  :  into  this  canal  the 
"  people  throw  all  manner  of  carrion,  filth,  &c.  fo  that 
<c  the  flench  which  arifes  from  this  and  the  mud  toge- 
"  ther  is  infufferably  offenfive.  In  this  pofture  of  things, 
"  the  plague  every  year  preys  upon  the  inhabitants,  and 
"  is  only  flopped  when  the  Nile,  by  overflowing,  wafhes 
"  away  this  load  of  filth  ;  the  cold  winds,  which  fet  in 
"  at  the  fame  time,  lending  their  affiftance  by  purifying 
"  the  air."  He  then  proceeds  to  account  for  the  plagues 
in  Ethiopia  in  the  manner  above  related,  viz.  by  the 
prodigious  fwarms  of  locufts,  which  fometimes  occafion 
a  famine  by  devouring  the  fruits  of  the  earth,  and,  when 
they  happen  to  be  caft  by  the  winds  into  the  fea,  occa- 
iion  a  peftilence  j  the  putrefaction  being  heightened 
by  the  intemperance  of  the  climate,  which  here  is 
fo  great  that  it  is  infefted  with  violent  rains  for  three 
or  four  months  together ;  and  it  is  particularly  obferved 
of  this  country,  that  the  plague  ufually  invades  it  when- 
ever rains  fall  during  the  fultry  heats  of  July  and  Au- 
guft.  He  next  takes  notice  of  what  the  Arabians  fay 
of  the  origin  of  the  plague  in  Ethiopia,  viz.  that  it  is 
brought  on  by  unfeafonable  moiftures,  heats,  and  want  of 
tvinds.  But,  whatever  truth  may  be  in  the  account 
given  of  the  Ethiopia  plagues,  the  teftimonies  already 
produced  in  this  treat ife  are  fufEcient  to  render  it  very 

doubtful, 


168  A   TREATISE    ON 

doubtful,  at  leaft,  whether  the  plague  ever  does  origi- 
nate in  Cairo,  or  any  other  place  in  Egypt.  Befides,  if 
we  once  admit  the  exiftence  of  any  thing  as  a  caufe  ade- 
quate to  the  production  of  a  certain  effect,  wherever  that 
caufe  exifts  the  effect  ought  certainly  to  follow,  unlefs 
where  we  plainly  perceive  ibmething  which  prevents  its 
action.  It  is  not  fair  reafoning  to  fay  that  the  action  of 
the  caufe  is  prevented  by  fomething  unknown,  for  we 
might  as  well  fay  that  this  unknown  fomething  is  the 
caufe  originally,  and  acts  only  upon  certain  occafions,  or 
when  it  thinks  proper.  Now,  if  the  filth  of  the  canal 
of  Cairo  be  the  caufe  of  the  plague  in  that  city,  it  ought 
to  recur  annually  at  the  feafon  when  that  filth  exifts  in 
greateft  quantity,  and  in  the  moft  putrid  ftate.  Never- 
thelcfs  we  have  the  exprefs  teftimony  of  Mr.  Eyles  Irwin, 
that  at  the  time  he  was  in  Cairo  there  had  not  been  any 
plague  for  feven  years.  The  account  he  gives  of  it  is  a 
kind  of  contraft  to  that  above  quoted  from  Dr.  Mead. 
"  Mifir  al  Kaira,  (ays  he,  or  the  City  of  Angwjti*  fo  called 
"  from  the  frequent  vifits  which  it  has  received  from  the 
"  plague,  but  commonly  called  Grand  Cairo  by  us,  is  iitu- 
*'  ated  in  iat.  30  degrees  3  minutes  N.  on  an  artificial 
"  branch  of  the  Nile.  Old  Cairo  nearly  faces  the  river; 
"  but  the  new  city  is  removed  above  a  mile  from  it,  and 
"  approaches  to  the  range  of  mountains  which  runs 
"  through  Upper  Egypt,  and  abruptly  breaks  off  here. 
/'  It  is  undoubtedly  one  of  the  fineft  cities  in  the  eaft; 
""  which,  from  the  prefent  ftyle  of  architecture  that  reigns 
"  among  the  orientals,  is  but  a  faint  commendation. 
"  The  houfes  are  in  general  built  of  ftone,  and,  being 
"  elevated  to  feveral  ftories,  would  make  a  grand  ap- 
"  pearance,  notwithstanding  the  inelegance  of  their 
"  ftructure,  were  not  the  effect  deftroyed  by  the  excef- 
"  five  narrownefs  of  the  ftreets.  This  is  one  of  the 
"  caufes  to  which  the  ingenious  Dr.  Mead  afcribes  the 
"  birth  of  the  plague  in  this  capital  ;  but  experience 
"•  evinces  that  it  arifes  from  foreign  and  adventitious  caufes* 
"  There  has  not  been  a  plague  here  the fe  feven  years  -,  which 
"  is  rendered  more  remarkable  by  the  commencement 
"  of  the  Ruffian  war  at  the  date  of  its  ceilation.  Nq 

"  one 


THE    PLAGUE.  169 

"  one  can   account  for  this ;  though  a  year  feldom  paf- 
"  fed  by  before  without  a  vilit  from  it."* 

From  this  it  plainly  appears,  that,  however  thefe  pu- 
trid effluvia  may  concur  with  other  circumftances  in  pro- 
ducing the  plague,  they  are  by  no  means  the  only  caufe; 
otherwife  not  a  fingle  year  could  have  pafled  in  Cairo 
without  a  peftilence  ;  and  the  very  fame  thing  we  (hall 
find  to  hold  good  in  every  other,  let  us  choofe  for  a 
caufe  what  we  will.  In  order  to  inveftigate  this  matter 
fully,  we  muft  now  confider  what  caufes  have  been  af- 
figned  by  phyficians  for  other  epidemical  difeafes;  and 
here,  to  avoid  prolixity,  we  fhall  chiefly  confine  ourfelves 
to  thofe  enumerated  by  Dr.  Fordyce  as  the  caufes  of 
fever  ;  a  gentleman  whofe  very  extenfive  experience 
muft  give  the  greateft  weight  to  his  teftimony.-j-  The 
principal  caufes  afiigned  by  him  are, 

i.  Infe8iQH,  or  "  a  peculiar  matter  generated  in  the 
"  body  of  a  man  in  fever,  which  is  carried  by  the  at- 
"  mofphere,  and  applied  to  fome  part  of  the  body  of  a 
'<  perfon  in  health,  and  which  caufes  fever  to  take  place 
"  in  him."  That  fuch  a  caufe  exifts,  he  proves  from  ob- 
ferving  that  "  of  any  number  of  men,  one  half  of  whom 
<c  go  near  a  perfon  ill  of  a  fever,  and  the  other  half  do  not, 
"  a  greater  number  of  the  former  will  be  infeded,  in  a 
"  fhort  period  afterwards,  than  in  thofe  who  do  not." 
He  fays  he  has  known,  in  fuch  circumftances,  feven  out 
of  nine  infeded  with  the  difeafe.  This  infedion  is  not 
difcoverable  by  fmell  or  any  other  organ  of  fenfe  ;  nei- 
ther can  the  greateft  attention  to  cleanlinefs  difarm  it  of 
its  malignity.  Of  this  the  Dodor  fays  that  he  has  known 
inftances;  nay,  of  a  perfon  going  into  a  room  where  a 
fevenfh  patient  was,  and  bringing  with  him  the  infedion, 
which  was  communicated  to  others  in  the  room  to  which 
he  came.  He  owns,  however,  that  by  allowing  the  air 
to  ftagnate  in  which  fevenfh  patients  are,  the  infedion 

will 

*  Irwin's  Voyage  up  the  Red  Sea,  p.  335. 

v  At  the  time  of  writing  his  treatife  Dr.  Fordyce  informs  us,  that  he  had 

been  «*for  upwards  of    twenty   years   one  of  the  three  phyfic4ans  of  Sr. 

Thomas's  Hofpital  (in  London)   whofe  walls  have  contained  nearly  four 

'  thouland  patients  every  year,  where  the  proportion  of  fevers  to  other  dif- 

»•  eaks  is  much  greater  than  the  general  proportion," 


A    TREATISE    ON 

will  become  extremely  violent  and  fatal.  This  may  na- 
turally be  fuppofed,  even  without  having  recourfe  to 
putrid  effluvia  ;  becaufe,  independent  of  thefe,  the  im- 
perceptible infectious  matter  itfelf  will  undoubtedly  be 
accumulated  in  the  atmofphere  of  the  room,  and  act 
more  powerfully  than  it  could  have  done  had  it  been 
partly  carried  off  and  diluted  by  attention  to  cleanlinefs 
and  ventilation.  He  alfo  fays,  that  "  when  a  number 
"  of  pcrfonslive  in  afmall.fpaee,  fuppofing  even  that  they 
"  are  kept  as  clean  as  poffible,  it  happens  frequently  that 
"  fever  arifes  in  fome,  often  in  many  of  them.  It  has 
"  been  in  this  cafe  fuppofed,  and  is  extremely  probable, 
"  that  fome  peculiar  fpecies  of  matter  is  produced,  capa- 
"  ble  of  producing  fever,  on  being  applied  to  the  body." 

2.  Effluvia  from   -putrid  animal  or  vegetable  matters. 
Of  this  our  author  feems  to  be  lefs  fully  ascertained  than 
of  the  former,  as  he  does  not  fay  that  he  has  obferved 
any  inftances  of  fevers  arifing  from  this  caufe  ;  and  he 
concludes  by  obferving  that  "  either  the  caufe  of  fever, 
"  confiding  of  matter  produced  in  the  body  of  a  perfon 
"  affected  with  thisdifeafe,  feems  probably  different  from 
<c  that  produced  by  putrefaction,  or  might  be  generated 
"  without  any  putrefaction  taking  place." 

3.  Cold.     Our  author  "  is  not  difpofed  to  allow  that 
t;*  fudden  expofure  to  cold  occafions  fever  to  take  place, 
kC  unlefs  fome  fymptom  of  the  difeafe  follows  immediately. 
"  If  a  man  had  been  fuddenly  expofed  to  cold,  and  con- 
"  tinued  in  perfect  health  for  twenty-four  hours,  the  au- 
*'  thor  would  never  allow  that  fever,  or  any  other  difeafe, 
'"'  was  occafioned  by  it..     In  this  cafe  (expofure  to  cold) 
4£  the  evidence  is   much   ftronger  than  in   that  of  infec- 
"  tion  ;  for  the  author  (Dr.  Fordyce)    has  feen  many 
"  inftances  where,  from  expofare  to  cold,  the  commence- 
"'  ment  of  the  attack  was  inftantaneous  ;  and  many  are 
tc  to  be  found  in  the  records  of  medicine.'1 

4.  Moljlitre.    On  thisfubjed  the  Doclor  obferves,  that 
the  application  of  water  to  the  body  is  not  a  caufe  of  fe- 
ver, unlel5  the  air  has  particles  of  water  floating  in  it  ,  in 
which   cafe  fever  has    eniued    more    frequently  than    in 
ether  cafes.     Water  may  exifl   in   the  atmofphere  in 

three 


THE    PLAGUE.  171 

three  ftates.  i.  In  fmall  drops  fufpended  in  it  like  duft 
in  water.  2.  In  vapour.  In  this  cafe  the  tranfparency 
of  the  air  is  not  impaired,  and  a  chemical  combination, 
as  it  is  called,  between  the  air  and  water  takes  place, 
If  the  atmofphere  be  hot  or  denfe,  it  is  capable  of  com- 
bining chemically  with  a  larger  proportion  of  water.  If 
therefore  the  atmofphere  mould  in  this  manner  be  fatu- 
rated  with  water,  at  any  particular  degree  of  heat  or  den- 
fity,  by  diminiming  either  of  thefe  the  vapour  will  be 
condenfed,  and  the  water  reduced  to  the  former  ftate  of 
fufpenfion  in  fmall  particles.  3.  Water,  heated  to  the 
boiling  point,  emits  a  fteam,  which  combines  chemical- 
ly with  the  atmofphere,  till  the  latter  be  faturated,  after 
which  it  aflumes  the  form  of  fmall  particles ;  and  this 
loft  is  the  onlyjlate  which  has  been  found  to  produce  fever. 

Moifture  will  alfo  produce  fever  when  applied  to  the 
body  by  wearing  wet  clothes.  Thofe  which  imbibe  or 
part  with  heat  moft  flowly,  are  leaft  apt  to  produce  fevers 
on  being  heated.  The  warmer  the  atmofphere,  the  more 
liable  people  are  to  fevers  from  moifture. 

It  has  been   obferved,  that   moifture  from   marfhes, 

ftagnating  canals,  or  where  the  water  runs  very  flowly, 

is  more  apt  to  produce  fevers  than  what  proceeds  from 

the  fea,  lakes  or  rapid  rivers.     "  This   (fays  the  Do&or) 

"  has  given  occafion  to  fuppofe  that  fome  other  vapours 

ec  proceed  from  fuch  marfhes  befide  water,  and  produce 

"  the   difeafe.     It  certainly  often  happens,  that  a  confi- 

"  derable   degree  of  putrefaction  takes  place  in   marfhy 

*c  grounds,  and  more  efpecially  in  warm  climates  ;  but 

"  it  is  by  no  means  to  be  concluded  that  moifture  in  the 

"  atmofphere  always  produces   fever  in  confequence  of 

*c  putrefaction.     Putrefaction  can  only  take  place  in  ve- 

"  getable  or  animal  fubftances.     If  water  therefore,  not 

:c  impregnated  with  either,  mould  be  in  fuch  a  fituation 

:<  as  to  produce  moifture  in  the  atmofphere,   no  putre^ 

"  faction  can  take  place  ;  therefore,  if  fevers  enfue,  they 

:c  are  certainly  in  confequence  of  moifture,  not  putrefac- 

;*  tion.     Many   inftances  of  this  may  be  brought,  as  in 

"  the   war  which    took   place  in  Flanders,  between  the 

<6  tenth  and  eleventh  year  pf  the  prcfent  century,  an  ar- 

!'  ray 


i7z  A    TREATISE    ON 

"  my  encamped  upon  fandy  ground,  in  which  water  was 
•*  found  in  digging  lefs  than  a  foot  deep,  and  occafioned 
"  a  great  moifture  in  the  air,  which  produced  in  a  few 
<c  days  numbers  of  fevers,  although  the  army  was  per- 
"  fectly  healthy  before,  and  no  more  fevers  were  produ- 
"  ced  on  fhifting  their  ground.  There  are  a  vaft  many 
"  other  inftances  of  the  fame  thing  having  taken  place. 
"  Befides,  fever  has  often  arifen  immediately  in  perfons 
"  fitting  in  rooms,  the  floors  of  which  had  been  juft 
"  moiflened  with  pure  water." 

5.  Certain  kinds  of  food.     On  this  Dr.  Fordyce  ob- 
ferves,  that,  though  food  of  difficult  digeftion  undoubt- 
edly produces  a  number  of  difeafes,  he  has  never  feen  it 
productive  of  fever  excepting  once.     Dr.  Girtanner  re- 
lates, that  the  emperor  of  Germany,  having  forced  a 
number  of  his  fubjects  to  ferve  as  foldiers,  and  fent  them 
into  an  unwholfome  part  of  Walachia,   where  he  fed 
them  with  a  kind  of  pafte  made  of  bread  and  water  in- 
ftead  of  meat,  many  of  them  died  of  the  fcurvy.     The 
Doctor,  however,   does  not  afcribe  this  to  any  pofitive 
caufe,  but  to  three  negatives^  viz.  the  abstraction  of  the 
ftimulus  of  nutriment ',  by  feeding  on  the  pafte  juft  men- 
tioned ;  of  the  ftimulus  of  oxygen  in  the  corrupted  at- 
mofphere  of  Walachia ;  and  laftly  of  the  nervous ftimuln$% 
the  mod  powerful  of  all ;  the  greateft  part  being  engaged 
by  force  againft  their  will.     This  corroborates  what  Dr. 
Fordyce  has  faid,  that  bad  food  is  very  feldom  the  caufe 
of  fever ;    for  among  fo  many,   who  ufed  the  imperial 
pafte  juft  mentioned,   fome  would  certainly    have    been 
affected  by  fevers,   had   it  been  capable  of  producing 
them  ;    but,  as  it  did  not,  it  is  rnoft  evident  that  the 
deficiency  ofJHmuli  is  not  the  caufe  of  fever. 

6.  Pajfions  of  the  mind.     Thefe  are  looked   upon  by 
Dr.  Fordyce  to  be  among  the  lefs  frequent  caufes  of 
fever,  though  it  is  certain  that  they  have  been  produc- 
tive of  multitudes  of   difeafes,    and    even   of  fudden 
deaths  ;    and  Dr.  Falconer,  in  his  Prize  Differtation, 
afcribes  to  the  paffions  very  confiderable  effects  in  fe- 
vers, and  even  in  the  plague  itfelf.     "  Contagious  fe- 
"  vers  (fays  he)  afford  ftrong  inftances  of  the  influence 

^  "of 


THE    PLAGUE.  173 

**  of  mental  affections,  both  as  prophylactics  and  reme- 
"  dies.  The  plague  is  a,  remarkable  example,  and  the 
"  fame  reafoning  extends  to  other  diforders  of  a  febrile, 
<c  contagious  nature.  Fear,  it  is  well  obferved  by  Dr. 

"  Cullen,  by  weakening  the  body,  and  thereby  increaf- 
"  ing  its  irritability,  is  one  of  the  caufes  which,  concur- 
*c  ring  with  contagion,  render  it  more  certainly  active, 
"  which  he  afcribes  to  its  weakening  effect  on  the  body, 
4C  by  which  its  irritability  is  increafed.  ^Againft  this 
"  therefore  he  directs  the  mind  to  be  particularly  forti- 
"  fied,  which  isbeft  done  by  giving  people  a  favourable 
"  idea  of  the  power  of  prefervative  means,  and  by  de- 
<c  ftroying  the  opinion  of  the  incurable  nature  of  the 
"  diforder,  by  occupying  the  mind  with  bufinefs  or  la- 
"  bour,  and  by  avoiding  all  objects  of  fear,  as  funerals, 
"  pafling-bells,  and  any  notice  of  the  death  of  particular 
"  friends.  Even  charms  might  be  ufed  with  good  effect, 
<£  could  we  promote  a  ftrong  prepoflTeflion  of  their  effi- 
"  cacy,  either  by  the  confidence  they  infpire,  or  by  their 
<£  engrofling  the  attention  of  the  mind.  It  is  no  lefs 
"vCertain,  that  a  ftudious  regard  to  promote  hope  and 
"  confidence  in  recovery,  is  equally  neceflTary  for  the 
"  cure  as  for  the  prevention  of  fuch  diforders.  We 
"  know  that  contagious  fevers  have  a  peculiar  tendency 
"  to  diminifh  the  energy  of  the  brain,  and  of  courfe  to 
"  debilitate  the  whole  fyftem  ;  and  that  this  is  efpecially 
"  the  cafe  with  the  plague,  which  produces  the  mod  con- 
"  fid erable  effects  in  weakening  the  nervous*  fyftem  or 
"  moving  powers,  and  in  difpofing  the  fluids  to  a  general 
"  putrefcency  ;  and  Dr.  Cullen  is  of  opinion  that  tothefo 
cc  circumftances,  as  the  proximate  caufes  of  the  plague, 
"  regard  ihould  chiefly  be  had,  both  for  the  prevention 
"  and  cure  of  this  diforder.  It  muft  therefore  be  highly 
"  neceflary,  during  the  courfe  of  this  difeafe,  to  attend 
"  to  the  fupport  of  the  fpirits,  as  on  thefe  the  vital  prin- 
<;  ciples  greatly  depend  ;  and  they  can  by  no  means  be 
"  fo  effectually  kept  up  as  by  infpiririg  a  confidence  of 

<  recovery."  D^ 

*  «  An  intenfehead-ach,  uncommon  giddinefs,  and  afuddenlofs  offtrength, 
were  the  firft  complaints  of  thofc  who  were  feized  with  this  diftemper." 

(Ruflel  on  the  Plague  at  Aleppo,  p.  230  } 


i74  A   TREATISE    ON 

Dr.  Zimmerman  prefents  us  with  a  great  number  of 
examples  of  the  influence  of  the  paflions  in  producing 
difeafes,  or  death  itfelf ;  fome  of  the  moft  remarkable  of 
which  follow.  "  All  the  paflions  (fays  he)  when  carried 
-*'  to  excefs,  bring  on  very  formidable  difeafes.  Sorne- 
•"  times  they  occafion  death,  or  bring  us  at  leaft  into 
**'  imminent  clanger.  The  moft  reputable  phyficians  a- 
"  gree  in  opinion  that  terror  may  occafion  apoplexy,  and 
"  death  ;  and  indeed  they  confider  apoplexy  as  the  moft 
*c  common  effect  of  violent  paflion.  Without  being 
"  carried  to  excefs,  a  paffion  will  fometimes  occafion  a 
"  difficulty  of  breathing,  together  with  a  fenfe  of  ftric- 
4f  ture  in  the  bread,  and  an  hefitation  to  fpeak  ;  the 
"  tongue  remaining  as  it  were  immoveably  fixed  on  the 
"  palate.  Hyfterical  and  hypocondriacal  affections  are 
**  fojmetimes  the  effects  of  grief  in  the  mod  healthy  peo- 
**'  pie.  Joy  is  much  more  dangerous  to  life  than  fudden 
•"  grief.  Sophocles  died  through  joy  at  being  crowned 
"  on  account  of  a  tragedy  he  had  compofed  in  his  old 
"  age.  The  famous  Fouquet  died  on  being  told  that 
"  Louis  XIV  had  reftored  him  to  liberty.  The  niece  of 
?'  the  celebrated  Leibnitz,  not  fufpedling  that  a  philo- 
"  fopher  would  hoard  up  treafure,  died  fuddenly  on 
"  finding  under  her  uncle's  bed  a  box  containing  fixty 
"  thoufand  ducats.  Violent  anger  has  fometimes  pro- 
<c  duced  haemorrhages  and  fubcutaneous  extravafations  ; 
"  or,  fome  veflel  of  the  brain  being  ruptured  by  thefe 
tc  tranfports,  a  fatal  apoplexy  has  taken  place.  There 
fi  have  been  inftances  of  exceflive  anger  being  fucceeded 
<c  by  epilepfy,  colic,  or  a  violent  degree  of  fever.  Some- 
"  times  it  has  occafioned  an  increaled  flow  of  bile.  In 
"  fome  this  produces  vomiting  ;  in  others  it  goes  off 
v;  downwards,  and  caufes  diarrhoea-;  or  being  retained, 
ws  from  a  ftri<fture  of  the  gall-ducts,  will  perhaps  be  ab- 
v'*  forbed,  and  occafion  jaundice.  In  cafes  where  anger 
'*  has  been  fucceeded  by  extreme  grief,  obftructiohs  have 
%t  taken  place  in  the  liver.  The  effects  of  terror  are 
•'  iimilar  to  thofe  of  anger,  but  in  general  more  violent. 
^  Sometimes  exceflive  terror  feems  to  give  tomenapreter- 

..atural  ftrength,  as  is  the  cafe  with  madmen  and  drown- 

ins 


THE    PLAGUE.  175 

<c  ing  perfons.  In  fome  cafes  it  has  not  only  excited  im- 
"  mediate  convulfions,  but  caufed  them  to  return  peri- 
<£  odically.  Fear  has  been  faid  to  make  the  hair  ftand 
6f  upright,  and  to  contract  the  pores  from  which  the  hairs 
6<  iilue  in  tlie  fame  manner  as  cold  does.  There  are  in- 
"  fiances  in  authors  even  of  the  colour  of  the  hair  be- 
"  ing  changed  by  exceflive  fright.  Philip  V  died 
"  fuddenly  on  being  told  that  the  Spaniards  had  been 
"  defeated,  and,  on  opening  him,  his  heart  was  found 
"  ruptured.  Timid  people  are  more  liable  than  others 
"  to  fall  lick.  A  firmnefe  of  mind  is  one  of  the  beft 
<c  prefervations  againft  contagion.  Willis  has  very  well 
**  obferved,  that  they  who  fear  the  fmall-pox  the  moft 
"  are  generally  the  firft  to  be  attacked  with  it.  Cheyne 
"  allures  us  that  fear  is  extremely  prejudicial  in  ali  epi- 
"  demical  difeafes.  Dr.  Rogers  remarks,  that  fear  con- 
"  ftantly  increafes  the  ravages  of  a  contagious  difeafe. 
"  Rivinus  attributed  the  propagation  of  the  plague  at 
"  Leipfic  wholly  to  fear.  The  French  phyfkians,  who 
*'  wrote  on  the  plague  at  Marfeilles,  went  fo  far  as  to 
"  deny  its  being  contagious,  and  afcribed  its  propaga- 
"  tion  chiefly  to  fear." 

As  for  the  caufe  of  the  plague  itfelf,  Dr.  Fordyce  fup- 
pofes  it  to  be  produced  by  an  infedion  of  a  particular 
kind.  That  which  takes  place  in  Syria  and  Egypt,  he 
fays,  has  only  been  clearly  defcribed  by  Dr.  RufTel;  and 
it  cannot  be  gathered  from  the  accounts  whether  this 
may  be  originally  produced  without  having  been  propa- 
gated as  the  firft  clafs  of  infections  above  mentioned  are. 
**  That  difeafe  (fays  he)  called  the  plague,  which  ravaged 
<c  this  country  (England)  on  .confidering  the  hiftories  of 
"  the  difeafe,  feems  to  have  been  a,  fever,*  produced  by 
"  infections  of  the  firft  clafs  which  have  been  enume- 
'  rated."  Dr.  Moore  has  given  an  account  of  the  ori- 
gin of  a  plague,  which,  if  it  could  be  depended  upon, 
would  decide  the  queflion  concerning  the  origin  of  this 
dreadful  diftemper  without  previous  infection.  This 
paffage-  is  extracted  from  the  Hiftory  of  the  Royal 

Medical 

*  This  is  exprefsly  denied  by  Br.  Hodges,  who  had  innumerable  opportuni- 
i'.ei  o.f  feeing  the  diftemper. 


176  A    TREATISE    ON 

Medical  Society  for  the  years  1777  and  1778.  "  Dr. 
"  Mitchell,  phyfician  to  the  hofpital  at  Smyrna,  ap- 
"  pears,  according  to  a  memoir  of  which  he  is  ftie  au- 
"  thor,  fent  by  M.  le  Baron  de  Tott  to  the  Medical 
"  Society  to  believe  in  the  fpontaneity  of  the  plague 
"  (or  that  it  arifes  of  itfelf  without  any  predifpofing 
"  caufe  in  the  body)  for  proof  of  which  he  cites  the 
"  following  circumftance  :  A  folitary  fhepherd,  having 
"  no  communication  with  any  body,  fell  lick  while  he 
"was  tending  his  flocks;  he  went  into  an  inhabited 
"  part,  where  he  communicated  the  plague  with  which  he 
"  found  that  he  was  attacked.  This  circumftance  would 
"  prove  much,  if  it  was  certain  that  the  Ihepherd  had 
"  no  communication  with  others  ;  if  it  were  known  how 
"  long,  and  with  what  precaution,  he  had  been  fecluded 
"  from  company  :  but  the  proofs  of  thefe  are  too  diffi- 
"  cult  to  be  eftablifhed  to  allow  of  any  conclufion  to  be 
"  draw  from  the  fact.  We  are  obliged  therefore  to  ac- 
"  knowledge  [it  to  be  a  doubtful  matter]  whether  it  is 
"  in  fact  a  country  that  is  the  cradle  of  the  plague  ; 
"  what  country  this  is,  fuppofing  that  fuch  an  one  ex- 
"  ids  j  or,  finally,  whether  it  fom'etimes  appears  fpon- 
"  taneoufly,  and  whether  the  firft  whom  it  attacks  be- 
"  comes  the  focus  from  whence  it  emanates." 

Dr.  Fordyce,  in  treating  of  the  origin  of  fever,  feems 
inclined  to  think  that  it  may  arife  without  any  predif- 
pofing  caufe ;  and  after  having  enumerated  the  various 
caufes  already  mentioned,  and  fully  confidered  them, 
gives  it  as  his  opinion,  that  *'  there  muft  undoubtedly 
be  other  caufes  than  thofe  which  give  occafion  to  the 
diieafe,  but  which  are  at  prefent  totally  unknown" 
In  like  manner  Dr.  Moore,  fpeaking  of  the  nervous 
fever,  fums  up  what  may  be  known  concerning  the 
caufe  of  it  in  the  following  words.  "  Upon  the  whole, 
"  we  know  that  people  of  delicate,  exhaufted  and  flckly 
"  conflitutions,  and  thofe  whofe  minds  are  iaddened  by 
"  deprefling  paflions,  are  greatly  predifpofed  to  this  dif- 
<c  eafe,  the  immediate  feeds  of  which,  we  alfo  know, 
fcC  may  be  generated  in  places  where  human  effluvia  are 
"  collected  and  confined.  And  this  is  the  moft  eflential 

"  part. 


THE    PLAGUE,  177 

<c  part  of  qyr  knowledge  refpecting  the  caufe  of  this 
"  difeafe  -,  and  even  this  little  is  difturbed  with  uncer- 
"  tainty  :  for  we  fometimes  meet  with  inftances  of  peo-» 
"  pie  of  robuft  conftituiions,  who  are  feized  with  the  dif- 
"  eafe  in  all  its  malignity,  when  they  are  under  no  de- 
"  PT  effing  paffioHy  when  the  difeafe  is  not  epidemic,  to 
"  whom  we  cannot  trace  it  from  any  place  where  the 
*:c  human  effluvia  could  be  confined  in  any  uncommon 
:t  degree,  or  from  any  perfon  in  the  difeafe,  of  which 
"  perhaps  there  is  no  other  perfon  ill  in  the  neighbour* 
<c  hood  for  feveral  miles  round  ;  and,  in  fhort,  when  we 
"  cannot  connect  it  with  any  of  the  caufes  fuppofed  ta 
c  be  the  fources  of  the  diftemper.  On  extraordinary. 
5C  occafions  of  this  kind  we  have"  nothing  for  it  but  to 
{  fuppofe  that,  notwithftanding  the  apparent  vigour  of 
"  the  patient,  his  body  has  been  peculiarly  predifpofed 
"  to  catch  the  infection,  and  that  fome  contagion,  not 
"  forcible  enough  to  infect  any  other  perfon,  has  by  fome 
46  means,  unobferved,  been  conveyed  to  him ;  or,  if  fo 
"  many  fuppofitions  difpleafe,  we  may  fuppofe  at  once 
;c  that  there  is  in  forne  cafes  a  fource  of  this  fever  which 
:c  has  not  been  fufpected.  For,  although  the  numerous 
[<  obfervations  that  have  been  made  give  us  the  ftrongeft 
"  reafon  to  think  that  human  effluvia  produce  this  dif- 
"  eafe,  we  have  no  right  to  infer  that  it  cannot  arife  alfa 
"  from  fome  other  fource." 

To  the  fame  purpofe  I  fubjoin  the  very  refpectable 

opinion  and  teftimony  of  Dr.  Patrick  RufTel.     "  In  fome 

"  epidemical  diftempers,  the  fudden  alternations  of  the 

"  air  have  conftant  and  manifeft  influence ;   in  others, 

!c  though  the  influence  of  the  air  muft  be  equally  ad- 

;4  mitted,  it  feems  not  to  depend  on  fenfible  alteration 

14  or  lucceflion  in  the  common  properties  of  the  at- 

4  mofphere,  but  on  fome  inexplicable  combination,  fome 

(t  occult >  new,  unknown  quality.     Amongft  epidemics  of 

[c  this  laft  kind  muft  be  reckoned  the  plague 

t£  Should  ever  that  ftate  of  the  air,  without  the  concur- 
<s  rence  of  which  the  contagion  of  the  peftilence  never 
cc  fpreads,  or  ceafes  to  act,  be  difcovered,  and  afcer- 
:c  tained  by  unequivocal  marks,  the  dread  of  the  plague, 

A  a  ^  universally 


178  A    TREATISE    ON 

"  univerfally  prevalent,  would  be  greatly 
"  more  effectual  means  of  prefervation  would  be  found 
*c  out,  and  the  application  of  them  might  fafely  be  li- 
"  mited  to  certain  feafons. 

"  Experience  in  Turky,  where,  generally,  no  precau- 
"  tions  are  taken  in  the  times  of  peftilence,  clearly  evin- 
"  ces,  that,  in  a  certain  flare  of  the  air,  a  communication 
"  with  infeded  places  may  fubfift  without  any  material 
<c  confequence.  The  return  of  the  plague  at  Aleppo 
"  happens  at  irregular  periods ;  the  intervals  are  of  con- 
"  (iderable,  but  unequal,  length  ;  and  in  thofe  the  com- 
44  merce  with  Egypt,  Conftantiriople  and  Smyrna  re- 
"  mains  uninterrupted.  In  the  intervals  between  1744 
*e  1760,  and  from  1762  fro  1780,  the  plague  raged  fc- 
"  veral  times  in  the  places  now  mentioned,  without  affect - 
"  ing  Aleppo ;  and  even  in  two  or  three  years  fubfe- 
"  quent  to  1762,  though  it  was  at  Marafh,  as  well  as 
ce  other  places  not  far  diftant,  with  which  Aleppo  has 
"  continual  intercourfe,  no  inftances  were  difcovered  of 
cc  communicated  infection  :  if  fuch  happened,  they  muft 
"have  efcaped  my  utmoft  vigilance ;  and  the  daily 
4£  exercife  of  my  profeffion  led  me  to  be  very  much 
<c  among  the  natives  of  all  ranks.  At  the  fame  time  I 
"  have  reafon  to  fufpecl:  that  infected  families  from  fome 
*'  of  thofe  places  took  refuge  in  Aleppo ;  and  J  know, 
<c  with  certainty,  that  not  only  fome  merchants  of  that 
"  city,  who  happened  to  be  at  Marafh  when  the  plague 
"  broke  out  there,  returned  to  their  families  in  the  fum- 
"  mer  of  1763,  but  that  caravans  of  various  merchandife 
"  arrived  in  the  courfe  of  the  fame  fummer. 

"  I  confider  it  therefore  as  an  eftabliflied  fact  in  the 
"  Levant,  that  commerce  and  intercourfe  with  infcded 
<c  towns  is  fometimes  attended  with  no  bad  confequence. 
"  The  fame  thing  may  perhaps  by  aiTerted,  without 
"  reftriftion,  of  all  countries  ;  but  till  the  figns  indicat- 
"  ing  a  peftilential  conftitution  be  afcertained,  no  parti- 
"  cular  year  can  be  declared  exempt  from  danger.  Pre- 
"dictions  founded  on  planetary  conjunctions  have  been 
"  long  exploded  ;  and  figns  derived  from  the  known 
"  properties  and  alterations  of  the  air,  are  almoft  equally 

"  fallacious, 


THE    PLAGUE. 

"  fallacious.  The  feafons  concomitant  with  plagues  in 
"  England,  as  well  as  elfewhere,  have  been  very  diffimi- 
"  lar  ;  and  the  fame  vifible  concurrence,  ufually  deemed 
<c  peftilential,  has  often,  in  the  revolution  of  years,  been 
"  obferved  to  return,  in  various  countries,  without  pro- 
"  ducing  the  dreaded  confequences.  Upon  the  whole, 
"  from  all  I  have  been  able  to  colled,  the  peftilential 
"  conftitution  feems  hitherto  to  be  known  ©nly  from  its 
"  effeds  -y  neither  its  approach  nor  its  retreat  can  bepredicl- 
"  ed  -,  and  its  nature  remains  wrapped  up  in  M  y  s  x  E  R  i  o  u  s 


DARKNESS." 


Having  thus  feen,  that,  of  the  caufes  commonly  af- 
figned  for  epidemical  difeafes,  not  one  can  be  accounted 
certain  and  determinate,  it  now  remains  to  confider  one 
more,  and  that  is 

Contagion.  Though  this  has  been  generally  account- 
ed the  fame  with  infe&ion,  yet  by  fome  it  has  been  rec- 
koned otherwife  -3  and  indeed  there  feems  to  be  a  necefiity 
for  fuch  a  diftindion  :  for,  though  we  mould  prove? 
ever  fo  clearly,  that  a  difeafe  once  communicated  to  one 
perfon  mould  from  that  perfon  be  communicated  to  ano- 
ther, yet  the  difficulty  is  to  know  from  whence  the  firfl 
perfon  had  it.  This  fource,  if  any  fuch  can  be  found, 
is  what  we  may  with  the  greatefl  propriety  diftinguifh  by 
the  name  of  contagion,  and  is  the  fenfe  in  which  it  fhall 
for  the  future  be  ufed  in  this  treatife,  the  matter  commu- 
nicated from  one  perfon  to  another  being  always  called 
infection.  This  indeed  differs  from  what  many  celebrated 
phyiicians  have  faid  upon  the  fubjed  ;  but  the  diftinc- 
tion  certainly  muft  exift.  Dr.  Cullen  fpeaks  rather  in- 
diftin&ly  upon  the  fubjed:.  "  We  have  fuppofed  that 
"  miafmata  are  the  caufe  of  intermittents,  and  contagions 
<c  the  caufe  of  continued  fevers,  flridly  fo  named  ;  but 
"  we  cannot  with  propriety  employ  thefe  general  terms. 
;  The  notion  of  contagion  properly  implies  a  matter  arif- 
"  ing  from  the  body  under  difeafe,  miafma^  a  matter 
<c  arifing  from  other  fubftances.  But,  as  the  caufe  of 
"  continued  fevers  may  arife  from  other  fubftances  than 
:c  the  human  body,  and  may  in  fuch  cafes  be  called  a 
*'  mafaia,  and,  as  other  miafmata  aifo  may  produce  con- 

^  tagious 


iSo  A    TREATISE    ON 

"  tagious  diforde'rs,  it  will  be  proper  to  cliftinguifh  the 
*c  caufe  of  fevers  by  ufing  the  terms  marjli^  or  human  ef- 
c<  fluvia,  rather  than  the  general  ones  miajma^  or  corita- 
«  ghn." 

From  this -it  is  not  very  eafy  to  determine  what  the 
Do&or  means  when  he  fpeaks  offpecific  contagions  the 
caufe  of  the  plague.  Dr.  Ruffel  plainly  afcribes  it  to 
human  effluvia.  "  The  plague  (fays  he)  is  a  contagious 
"  difeafe  ;  that  is,  an  emanation  from  a  body  difeafed^  paf- 
"  fing  into  one  which  is  found,  produces,  in  time,  the 
"  fame  difeafe,"  &c.  There  muft,  however,  undoubt- 
edly have  been  fomething  originally  diftincl:  from  the 
human  body  which  gave  rife  at  leaft  to  thefirft  plague 
that  was  in  the  world  ;  and  fome  plagues  recorded  in 
hiftory  are  faid  to  have  arifenin  this  way.  Thus,  Am- 
mianus Marcellinus  fays  that  the  plague  which  broke  out 
in  the  Roman  army  in  the  time  of  Marcus  Aurelius 
arofe  from  a  peftilential  vapour  confined  in  a  golden  cof- 
fer dedicated  to  Apollo.  Upon  opening  this,  the-tonfa- 
'•gion  diffuied  itfelf  all  around,  and  the  infection  fpreading 
from  one  to  another, -produced  an  almoft  univerfal  pef- 
tilence.  Ammianus  indeed  is  the  only  hiftorian  who 
relates  this  ;  another  account  of  its  origin  is  given,  p. 
14,  but  whether  we  believe  the  account  of  Ammianus 
or  not  (which  indeed  does  not  appear  prbbuble)  it  is  fuf- 
ficient  to  fhow  what  were  the  received  opinions  at  the 
iiime.  In  like  manner  every  one  has  heard  of  peftilen- 
tial effluvia  breaking  out  from  the  earth,  from  graves,  &c. 
fo  that  we  certainly  look  upon  this  doctrine  of  contagion 
•as  the  canfe  of  difeafes  to  have  been  pretty  generally  re- 
ceived. We  are  alfo  informed  by  Dr.  Mead,  from  M. 
Villani,  who  wrote  the -hiftory  of  thofe  times,  that  the 
^great  plague  of  1346  began  in  China,  where,  according 
to  the  report  of  fome  Genoefe  failors,  it  was  occafioneS 
by  a  great  ball  of  fire  that  either  burft  out  of  the  earth, 
or  :fell  down  from  heaven.  This  is  thought  incredible 
by  Dr.  Mead,  and  no  doubt  is  fo,  but  it  Ihows  the  ge- 
neral opinion,  that  the  original  caufe  or  contagion  which 
produces  a  plague  is  diftincl  from  the  infection  which  is 
afterwards  communicated  from  one  to  another.  In  the 

French 


THE    PLAGUE.  iSr 

French  Encyclopedic,  we  have  this  account  of  the  ball 
of  fire,  or  fiery  vapour,  without  any  comment. 

As  to  the  opinion  of  peftilential  vapours  arifing  out  of 
the  earth,  though  we  are  affured  that  people  have  been 
fuddenly  killed  by  explofions,  probably  of  the  electrical 
kind,  or  by  lightning  ifTuing  from  under  their  feet,  yet 
we  are  not  furniflied  with  any  well  authenticated  ac- 
counts of  a  -plague  having  arifen  from  any  fuch  caufe. 
About  -1:9  years  ago  a  violent  fever  raged  epidemically 
through  a  (mall  diftrift  m  the  north  of  Scotland,  which 
was  faid  to  Imve  originated  in  the  following  manner. 
Some  young  men  having  heard  that  a  certain  place  in 
'their  neighbourhood  had,  in  the  time  of  a  plague  been  a 
burial  ground,  took  into  their  heads  to  dig  into  it. 
They  did  ib,  and  one  of  them  immediately  fell  lick,  but 
-recovered.  The  father  of  two  of  the  young  men, exceed^ 
ingly  difpleafed  at  the  conduct  of  his  fons,  and  appre- 
jienfi ve  of  the  confequences,  ^filled  up  the  hole  they  had 
dug  hi  the  ground,  foon  after  'which  he  fell  fkk  and  di- 
ed, and  the  fever  continued  to  rage  in  the  neighbour- 
hood for  fome  time.  The  mother  df  another  of  the  par- 
ties concerned  alfo  died,  and  boils  broke  out  on  various 
|>arts  of  the  bodies  of  the  iick.  This  was  the  account 
given  in  (bme  of  the  newf-papers  of  the  time,  and  had 
the  matter  been  thoroughly  inveftigated  and  attefted, 
would  have  been  decifive  in  favour  of  peftilential  conta- 
gion 'being  capable  of  taking  up  its  refidence  in  the 
earth.  As  it  ftands  at  prefent,  it  can  only  draw  our  aN 
tention  to  what  may  happen  in  another  cafe,  Ihould  any 
'finiilar  one  occur.* 

With 

*  Though  the  writer  of  this  Treatife  was  not  at  that  time  on  the  fpot 
tvhere  this  event  took  place,  yet  he  has  as  good  evidence  as  any  one  can  hava 
of  what  has  not  fallen  under  his  immediate  infpedion,  that  thefe  graves  wera 
opened,  that  the  father  of  one  of  the  young  men  died  ;  and  the  mother  of 
another,  and  one  of  the  young  men  hirhfelf  was  taken  ill,  with  the  eruption  of 
fa/ils  on  fome  parts  of  his  body  ;  but  whether  there  was  any  perfon  previoufly 
afFefted  with  fever  in  the  neighbourhood  from  whom  it  might  have  been  de- 
rived, or  any  thing  which  might  have  ftrongly  predifpofed  thofe  people  to  it, 
is  unknown.  It  is  indeed  no  eafy  matter  to  difcover  who  was  the  firft  per- 
Ton  afteded  with  an  epidemic,  as  no  body  choofes  to  own  that  either  they,  or 
"griy  of  their  relatives  were  the  authors  of  mifchief,  however  involuntary,  to  the 
"community.  M.  Chaptal,  however,  in  his  Elements  of  Chemiftry,  has  fome 
'curious,  as  well  as  ufeful  obfervations  on  the  propriety  of  burying  bodies  in  a 
Tuflicient  fpade  and 'at  a  fufficietit  depth  j  and  on  the  accidents  which  may 

arifq 


182  A    TREATISE    ON 

With  regard  to  epidemics  occailoned  by  the  action  of 
eledricity,  we  cannot  indeed  produce  any  inftance ;  but 
we  have  one  of  a  diftemper  more  dreadful  than  even  the 
plague  itlelf ;  and  that  is  of  a  perfon  fuddenly  ftruck  by 
an  ele&ric  flafh  (generated  either  in  his  own  body,  or 
in  the  room  where  he  was)  and  by  this  ftroke  reduced 
to  a  moil  deplorable  condition,  which  foon  ended  in 
death.  The  account  (lands  on  the  authority  of  Mr. 
Jofeph  Battaglia,  furgeon  at  Ponte  Bofio,  who  tranf- 
mitted  it  to  Florence,  and  is  as  follows. 

"  Don  G.  Maria  Bertholi,  a  priefl  refiding  at  mount 
"  Valere  ir|  the  diftrid:  of  Livizzano,  went  to  the  fair 
"  of  Filetto,  on  account  of  fome  bufmefs  which  he  had 
"  to  tranfad,  and  after  fpending  the  whole  day  in  going 
"  about  through  the  neighbouring  country,  in  order  to 
"  execute  comrnifiions,  in  the  evening  he  walked  to- 
<c  wards  Fenille,  and  flopped  at  the  houfe  of  one  of  his 
"  brothers-in-law,  who  refided  there.  No  fooner  had  he 
"  arrived,  than  hedeilred  to  be  conduced  to  his  apart- 
**  ment,  where  he  put  a  handkerchief  between  his  fhoul- 
•"  ders  and  his  (hirt,  and,  when  every  body  retired,  he 
"  began  to  repeat  his  breviary.  A  few  minutes  after,  a 
•"  loud  noife  was  heard  in  Mi\  Bertholi's  chamber  $  and 
"  his  cries  having  alarmed  the  family,  they  haflened  to 

"  the 

arife  from  opening  vaults  and  burying  grounds.  An  inftance  of  this  he  gives 
of  the  ground  of  a  church  in  Paris  being  dug  up,  which  emitted  a  naufeous 
Vapour,  affeding  fcveral  people  in  the  neighbourhood. 

From  M.  Chaptal's  obfervations  it  appears,  that  bodies  do  not  foon  diflblve 
in  fuch  a  manner  as  to  emit  nodii'agreeable  or  noxious   effluvia,  when  buried. 
M.  Becher,  he  fays,  "  had  the  courage  to  make  obiervations  during  the  courfe 
*«  of  a  year  upon  the  decompofition  of  a  carcafe  in  the  open  air.     The  firft 
ti  vapour  which  riles,  he  fays,  is  fubtle  and  naufeous  :  fome  days  after,  it  has 
«'  a  certain  four  and   penetrating  fmell.     After  the  firft  weeks  the  flcin  be- 
«  comes  covered  with  a  down,  and   appears  yellowifti  ;    greenifh  fpots   are 
«  formed  in  various  places,  which  afterwards  become  livid  and  black  ;  a  thick 
«  glofey  or  mouldy  fubftance  then  covers  the  greateft  part  of  the  body  :  the 
«  fpots   open  and  emit  a  fanies."     In   fuch  as  are  buried  the  decompofi- 
ioa  is   much  more   flow  ;  our   author   thinks  four  times  at  leaft.     Accord- 
ing to  M     Petit,   a  body  buried  at  the  depth  of  four  feet   is  not  decopi- 
t>ofed  in  lefs  than   three   years,  avid,   at   a   greater  depth   the  decompofition 
js  ftiil  more  flow.     This  decompofitien   is  favoured  by   the  prefence  of  wa- 
ter, and  likewiie  by  fome  kinds  of  earth  more  than   others.      It  has  been 
proved  by  Lemery,  Geolfroy,  and  others,  that  argillaceous  earths  have  very  lit- 
tle cffedl  in  this  way  :  porous  and  light  earths  much  more  :  the  roots  of  vege- 
tables alfo  by  abfovhing  the  putrid  effluvia  contribute  greatly  to  the  final  dc- 
ro'npofition  of  bodies  buried  in  places  expoled  to  the  open  air;  but  in  church- 
es  and  other  covered  places  the  cafe  h  vaftly  diflcrent.    «•  Here,  fays  our 

«<  author? 


THE    PLAGUE.  183 

"  the  fpot,  where  they  found  him  extended  on  the  floor, 
"  and  furrounded  by  a  faint  flame,  which  retted  to  a 
"  greater  diftance  in  proportion  as  it  was  approached, 
"  and  at  length  difappeared  entirely.  Having  conveyed 
6f  him  to  bed,  fuch  afliftance  as  teemed  neceflary  was 
4C  given  him.  Next  morning  I  was'  called,  and  after 
"  examining  the  patient  carefully,  I  found  that  the  tegu- 
"  ments  of  the  right  arm  were  almoft  entirely  detached 
"  from  the  flem,  and  hanging  loofe,  as  well  as  the  fkin 
"  of  the  lower  part  of  it.  In  the  (pace  contained  be- 
"  tween  the  moulders  and  the  thigh,  the  teguments  were 
"  as  much  injured  as  thofe  of  the  right  arm.  The  firft 
"  thing,  therefore,  to  be  done,  was  to  take  away  thofe 
44  pieces  of  fkin  ;  and,  perceiving  that  a  mortification  was 
"  begun  in  that  part  of  the  right  hand  which  had  receiv- 
"  fed  the  greateft  hurt  I  fcarified  it  without  lofs  of  time  ; 
"  but  notwithftand'  ,g  this  precaution,  I  found  it  next 
"  day,  as  I  had  fufpcdted  the  preceding  evening,  entirely 
"  fphacelous.  On  my  third  vifit,  all  the  other  wounded 
"  parts  appeared  to  be  in  the  fame  condition.  The  pa- 
"  tient  complained  of  an  ardent  thirft,  and  was  agitated 
"  with  dreadful  convuliions.  He  voided  by  ftool  bili- 
"  ous  putrid  matter,  and  was  diftrefled  by  a  continual 

"  vomiting. 

««  author,  is  neither  water  nor  vegetation  ;  and  confequently  no  caufe  which 
««  can  carry  away,  diflblve  or  change  the  nature  of  the  animal  fluids  :  and 
«'  I  cannot  but  applaud  the  wifdom  of  government  which  has  prohibited  the 
"  burying  in  churches ;  a  pradlice  which  was  once  a  fubjed  of  horror  and  in- 
"  fecYion. 

«*  The  decomposition  of  a  body  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth  can' never  be  dan- 
««  gerous,  provided  it  be  buried  at  a  fufficient  depth,  and  that  the  grave  be  not 
«'  opened  before  its  complete  diflblution.  The  depth  of  the  grave  ought  to  be 
«*  fuch  that  the  external  air  cannot  penetrate  it ;  that  the  juices  with  which 
«'  the  earth  is  impregnated  may  not  be  conveyed  to  its  furface  ;  and  that  the 
«'  exhalations,  vapours,  or  gafes,  which  are  developed  or  formed  by  decompo- 
•«  fition,  Ihould  not  be  capable  of  forcing  the  earth  covering  which  detains 
«  them.  The  nature  of  \he  earth  in  which  the  grave  is  dug,  influences  all  its 
•«  efiedts.  If  the  ftratum  which  covers  the  body  be  argillaceous,  the  depth  of 
"  the  grave  may  be  lei's,  as  this  earth  difficultly  admits  a  pafifage  -to  gas  and 
«•  vapour  ;  but,  in  general,  it  is  admitted  to  be  neceflary  that  bodies  fhould  be 
««  buried  at  the  depth  of  five  feet  to  prevent  all  thefe  unhappy  accidents.  It 
"  is  likewife  neceflary  to  attend  to  the  circumftance,  that  a  grave  ought  not  to 
**  be  opened  before  the  complete  decompofition  of  the  body.  The  term  of  de- 
««  competition  is  various  ;  according  to  M.  Petit  of  tkree  years  in  graves  of 
'«  four  feet,  and  four  years  in  thofe  of  fix  feet.  The  pernicious  cuftom  which 
<«  allows  a  fingle  grave  to  families  more  or  lefs  numerous,  ought  therefore  to 
«  be  fuppreiTed  ;  for,  in  this  cafe  the  fame  gave  may  be  opened  before  the 
«« time  prescribed.  It  is  likewile  neceflaryi  to  prohibit  burying  m  vaultsj  or 
**  even  in  t0ffias»" 


184  A   TREATISE    ON 

44  vomiting,  accompanied  with  a  violent  /ever  and  de~ 
44  lirium.  At  length  the  fourth  day  after  a  comatofe 
"  fleep  of  two  hours,  he  expired.  During  my  laft  vilit, 
"  while  he  was  funk  in  the  lethargic  fleep  of  which  I  have 
"  fpoken,  I  obferved  with  aftoniftiment,  that  putrefac- 
44  tion  had  already  made  fo  great  progrefs,  that  his 
44  body  exhaled  an  infupportable  fmell.  I  faw  the 
44  worms  which  iffued  from  it  crawling  on  the  bed7 
ce  and  the  nails  of  his  fingers  drop  of  themfelves $  fo 
:'  that  I  thought  it  needlefs  to  attempt  any  thing  farther, 
54  while  he  was  in  this  deplorable  condition.  Having  taken 
"  care  to  get  every  poflible  information  from  the  patient 
44  himfeif,  refpecting  what  had  happened  to  him,  he  told 
44  me,  that  he  had  felt  a  ftroke,  as  if  fomebody  had  giver* 
44  him  a  blow  over  the  right  arm,  with  a  large  clqb,  and 
44  that  at  the  fame  time,  he  had  feen  a  fpark  of  fire  attach 
"  itfelf  to  his  (hirt,  which  in  a  moment  was  reduced  to 
44  afhes,  though  the  fire  did  not  in  the  leaft  injure  the  wrift- 
46  bands.  The  handkerchief  which  he  had  placed  upon 
"  his  moulders,  between  his  fhirt  and  his  fkin,  was  per- 
44  fectly  entire,  without  the  leaft  appearance  of  burning, 
44  his  drawers  were  untouched,  but  his  night-cap  was  de- 
44  ftroyed,  though  a  fingle  hair  of  his  head  was  not  hurt. 
*'  That  this  flame  under  the  form  of  elementary  fire, 
<£  burnt  the  ikin,  reduced  the  fhirt  to  afhes,  and  entirely 
44  confumed  the  night-cap,  without  in  the  leaft  touching 
44  the  hair,  is  a  faft  which  I  affirm  to  be  true  :  befides, 
44  every  fymptom  that  appeared  on  the  body  of  the  de- 
44  ceafed,  announced  fevere  burning.  The  night  was 
44  calm,  and  the  circumambient  air  very  pure  :  no  bitu- 
**  minous  fmell  could  be  perceived  in  the  chamber,  nor 
44  was  there  the  leaft  trace  of  fire  or  of  fmoke.  A  lamp, 
4<  however,  which  had  been  full  of  oil,  was  found  dry, 
44  and  the  wick  almoft  in  afhes.  We  cannot  reafonably 
"  fuppofe  this  fatal  accident  to  have  been  occafioned  by 
<c  any  external  caufe ;  and  I  have  no  doubt  that  if 
"  JVUffei  were  fcill  alive  he  would  take  advantage  of  it 
44  to  fupport  an  opinion  which  he  entertained,  that  light- 
4W  ning  h  fometimes  kindled  in  the  human  body  and 
"  deftroys  it." 

Another 


THE  PLAGUE, 

Another  account,  to  the  fame  purpofe,  is  given  in 
Mr.  Battaglia's  paper.  "On  the  2ifl  of  April,  1781, 
"  the  firft  battalion  of  the  brigade  of  Savoy  fet  out  from 
"  Tortona,  in  order  to  go  to  Arti,  when  the  weather  was 
"  exceflively  hot.  On  the  2zd,  having  made  rather  a 
"  forced  march,  the  foldiers  fuffered  a  great  deal  from 
u  the  ardour  of  the  fun,  fo  that,  at  the  village  of  Serre, 
"  where  they  halted,  one  of  them,  named  Bocquet,  a 
"  man  of  twenty-five  years-of  age,  whofe  fkin  being  very 
"  hard  and  thick  had  not  perfpired,  fent  forth  a  loud 
"  cry*  which  feemed  to  announce  fome  extraordinary 
"  commotion,  and  inftantly  fell  down-  Mr.  Bianet, 
"  furgeon  major  to  the  regiment,  found  the  patient  in 
"  convuliions.  When  he  was  carried  to  the  hofpital 
"  the  upper  part  of  his  body,  to  the  thighs,  appeared  to 
ic  to  be  withered  and  black,  and  in  a  gangrenous  ftate* 
"  Mr.  Bianet  employed  fcarifications,  but;  without  ef- 
"  feel: ;  it  was  impoflible  to  make  him  fwallow  any 
"  thing  ;  and  it  was  found  neceflary  to  abandon  him  to 
"  his  difmal  fate.  His  body  foon  exhaled  a  putrid 
"  fmell,  and  he  died  at  the  end  of  five  hours.  That  his 
"  diforder  might  not  be  communicated  to  others,  he 
"  was  interred  together  with  his  clothes.  Upon  in- 
*;  quiry,  after  his  death,  it  was  found  that  this  man  was 
"  addidted  to  the  conftant  ufe  of  fpiritous  liquors,  and 
"  that  he  had  even  drank  of  them  to  excefs  upon  the 
«  march." 

Other  inftances  there  are,  ftill  more  terrible,  of  people 
actually  taking  fire  and  being  confumed  to  alhes  by 
fome  internal  caufe  ;  but,  as  nobody  was  prefent  either 
at  the  beginning  or  during  the  continuance  of  thefe  ex- 
traordinary inflammations,  nothing  certain  can  be  faid 
about  them.  That  fuch  things,  however,  have  hap- 
pened, is  certain,  of  which  one  of  the  moft  remarkable 
inftances  is  that  of  Signora  Corn.  Zangari,  an  Italian 
lady.  She  retired  to  her  chamber  in  the  evening  fome- 
what  indifpofed,  and  in  the  morning  was  found  in  the 
middle  of  the  room  reduced  to  afhes,  all  except  her  face, 
legs,  fkull  and  three  fingers.  The  ftockings  and  fhoes 
flbe  had  on  were  not  burnt  in  the  leaft.  The  afhes  were 

B  b  light 


186  A    TREATISE    ON 

light,  and  on  preffing  them  between  the  fingers  va- 
nifhed,  leaving  behind  a  grofs,  {linking  moifturey 
with  which  the  floor  was  fmeared  ;  the  walls  and  fur- 
niture of  the  room  being  covered  with  a  moift  cineri- 
tious  foot,  which  had  not  only  ftained  the  linen  in  the 
chefts,  but  had  penetrated  into  the  clofet,  as  well  as  into 
the  room  overhead,  the  walls  of  which  were  moiftened 
with  the  fame  vifcous  humour.  This  lady  had  been 
accuftomed  to  ufe  a  bath  of  camphorated  fpirit  of  wine 
when  indifpofed. 

Dr.  Zimmerman,  from  the  64th  volume  of  the  Phi* 
lofophical  Tranfadions,  relates  the  cafe  of  a  poor  wo- 
man who  perifhed  in  this  miferable  manner  at  Coventry 
in  England  in  the  year  1772.  "  She  fell  out  of  bed, 
cc  and  was  found  next  morning  burnt  to  death,  though 
"  the  fire  in  the  grate  had  been  fmall,  and  the  furniture 
"in  the  room  had  fuffered  but  little.  Except  one 
"  thigh  and  leg,  there  were  not  the  lead  remains  of  any 
"  fkin,  veflels  or  vifcera ;  and  the  greater  part  of  the 
"  bones  were  completely  calcined,  and  covered  with  a 
"  whitifh  efflorefcence." 

On  thefe  unfortunate  people  it  has  been  obferved 
that  they  were  generally  intemperate  in  the  ufe  of  fpiritous 
liquors.  Of  the  poor  woman  at  Coventry,  whofe  cafe 
has  been  juft  now  related,  it  is  faid,  that  fhe  had  been 
in  the  pra&ice  of  drinking  from  half  a  pint  to  a  quart 
of  rum  every  day,  and  this  (he  continued,  notwithftand- 
ing  her  being  affected  with  jaundice  and  other  complaints. 
Mr.  Wilmer,  who  communicated  this  cafe  to  the  Roy- 
al Society,  concludes  it  with  thefe  words  :  "  That  her 
"  folids  and  fluids  were  rendered  inflammable  by  the 
"  immenfe  quantity  of  fpiritous  liquors  (he  had  drank, 
"  and  when  (he  was  fet  fire  to  Ihe  was  probably  foon 
"  reduced  toadies." 

On  other  cafes  of  a  fimilar  nature  it  has  been  re- 
marked, that  the  miferable  fufferers  were  "  for  the  moft 
"  part  advanced  in  years,  remarkably  fat,  and  had  been 
"  much  addicted  to  the  ufe  of  fpiritous  liquors,  either 
c*  in  their  drink,  or  applied  in  friction  to  the  body  ; 
"  whence  it  has  been  concluded  that  thefe  people  pe- 

"  rimed 


THE   PLAGUE.  i&7 

**  riQied  by  their  whole  fubftance  fponraneoufly  taking 
"  fire,  the  principaLfeat  of  which  had  been  the  entrails, 
"  or  the  epigaftric  vifcera  ;  and  that  the  exciting  caufe 
"  was  naturally  found  in  the  phlogifton  of  the  hu- 
"  mours,  called  forth  by  that  of  the  fpiritous  liquors 
"  combined  with  them."*  But  folutions  of  this  kind 
cannot  by  any  means  be  admitted.  We  have  not  the 
ioialleft  reafon  to  think  that  either  the  folid  or  fluid 
parts  of  the  bodies  of  hard  drinkers  are  more  inflammable 
than  thofe  of  other  people  ;  neither  is  it  credible  that 
any  perfon  could  live  with  his  body  in  fuch  a  flate.  Be- 
iides,  the  mod  inflammable  bodies  will  not  begin  to 
burn  unlefs  fire  actually  be  applied  to  them,  while  others 
much  lefs  inflammable  to  appearance,  will  yet  take  fire 
fpontaneoufly.  Thus,  even  fpiritous  liquors  themfelves, 
though  they  flame  violently  when  thrown  into  a  fire,  or 
when  a  burning  body  is  applied  to  them,  yet  there  is 
not  an  inftance  of  fuch  liquors  taking  fire  of  themfelves ; 
nay,  they  cannot  even  be  fet  on  fire  by  pouring  them  up- 
on a  red-hot  iron,  while,  on  the  other  hand,  heaps  of 
wet  vegetables,  which  we  fhould  think  fcarce  at  all  in- 
flammable, do  yet  very  frequently  take  fire  fpontaneoufly. 
The  author  lately  quoted,  however,  juflly  obferves  that 
M.  Bartholi,  the  unfortunate  prieft  above  mentioned  was 
plainly  ftruck  firft  by  electricity  from  without,  a  fpark  of 
fire  attaching  itfelf  to  his  fhirt,  and  a  faint  flame  furround- 
ing  his  body  ;  fo  that  the  fire  did  not  feem  to  have 
been  generated  in  his  body,  but  in  the  atmofphere. 
There  are  inftances  of  people  being  furrounded  with  thefe 
luminous  appearances  without  being  hurt  j  particularly 
of  a  woman  at  Milan,  whofe  bed  was  furrounded  with 
a  light  of  this  kind.  Mr.  Loammi  Baldwin,  of  this 
country,  was  alfo  furrounded  by  an  electric  light,  while 
railing  a  kite  in  the  time  of  a  thunder  ftorm,  and  Dr. 
Prieftley  makes  mention  of  a  gentleman,  who,  after  hay- 
ing worked  an  electric  machine  for  a  long  time  in  a 
fmall  room,  perceived,  on  leaving  it,  a  luminous  vapour 
following  him.  But  the  inftances  moft  to  our  prefent 
purpofe  are  tome  recorded  in  the  Philofophical  Tranfac- 

.  tions, 
'*  American  Mufeuw,  vol.  xi,  p,  148. 


i8S  A    TREATISE    ON 

tions,  of  luminous  vapours  coming  from  the  fea,  attach* 
ing  themielves  to  corn-ftacks,  and  fetting  fire  to  them. 
One  of  this  kind  is  particularly  mentioned  inLowthorp's 
Abridgement  ©f  the  Tranfadlions,  as  having  taken  place 
in  Ireland,  coming  repeatedly  from  the  fea,  and  fetting 
fire  to  corn  and  hay,  fo  that  the  people  were  greatly 
alarmed.  At  lad  they  found  that  it  might  be  driven 
off  by  making  a  great  noife,  and  that  it  would  avoid  arty 
fharp-pointed  iron  inftrument.  Had  fuch  a  vapour  at- 
tached itfelf  to  a  human  body,  it  is  poflible  that  it  might 
have  fet  fire  to  it  as  well  as  to  the  flack  of  corn  or  hay. 
Whether  thefe  accounts  render  the  flory  of  the  Genoefe 
failors  concerning  the  ball  of  fire  occafioning  the  plague 
of  1346  more  credible;  we  leave  the  reader  to  judge. 
They  certainly  (how,  however,  that  the  eleclric  fluid  will 
fometimes  interfere  with  the  human  body  in  a  very  ter- 
rible manner,  producing,  where  it  does  not  kill  inftan- 
taneoully,  fymptoms  equal  to  thofe  of  the  very  worft 
plague,  as  in  the  cafe  of  the  prieft  and  foldier  above 
mentioned. 

Another  hypothecs  concerning  the  origin  of  peftilen- 
tial  difeafes  is  that  offwarms  of  little  animals  invifibly 
exifting  in  the  atmofpherc  ;  which,  being  taken  into  the 
body  by  the  breath,  are  fuppofed  to  corrupt  or  other* 
wife  vitiate  the  blood  and  other  parts  of  the  body,  as  we 
fee  in  the  plague  and  other  epidemic  diforders.  This 
hypothefis,  fo  generally  exploded,  and  fo  apparently  im- 
probable, feems  to  receive  fome  fupportfrom  adifcovery 
of  an  infect  made  by  Mr.  Henry  Baker,  F.  R.  S.  and  pub., 
limed  in  his  work  entitled  "  The  Microfcope  made  Ea- 
fy."  He  called  it  the  infecl:  with  net-like  arms.  "  It 
"  lives  (fays  he)  only  in  cafcades,  where  the  water  runs 
"  very  fwift.  Some  of  them  being  kept  in  a  vial  of  water, 
Cl  mod  died  in  two  days,  and  the  reft,  having  fpun  them- 
Ck  felves  tranfparent  cafes,  which  were  fattened  either  to 
"  the  fides  of  the  glafs,  or  to  pieces  of  grafs  put  into  it, 
*£  feemed  to  be  changed  into  a  kind  of  chryfulis  -,  but 
"  before  they  affumed  this  form,  they  altered  their  fhape 
**  (in  a  manner  he  reprefents  by  a  figure.)  None  of  them 
"  lived  above  three  days  ;  and,  though  frefh  water  was 

"  given 


THE    PLAGUE.  189 

"  given  them  two  or  three  times  a  day,  yet  in  a  few  hours 
"  it  would  ftink  to  a  degree  fcarce  conceivable,  and  that 
"  too  atfeveral  yards  diftance,  though,  in  proportion  to  the 
cc  water,  all  the  included  infects  were  not  more  than  as 
"  one  to  one  million,  an  hundred  and  fifty  thousand.  This 
"  makes  it  probable  that  it  is  neceffary  for  them  to  live 
"  in  a  rapid  ftream,  left  they  mould  be  poifoned  by  the 
"  effluvia  ifiuing  from  their  own  bodies,  as  no  doubt 
"  they  were  in  'the  vial." 

From  this  account  it  is  not  difficult  to  conceive  that 
animals,  though  exceedingly  fmall,  may  yet  emit  fuch 
poifonous  effluvia  as  will  deftroy  much  larger  ones  ia 
their  neighbourhood.  It  will  by  no  means  be  incredi- 
ble that,  had  one  or  two  fuch  offenfive  animals  been 
thrown  into  a  jar  containing  gold-limes,*  the  whole  of 
thefe  beautiful  inhabitants  would  have  perimed  at  once. 
Let  us  fuppofe  fuch  a  thing  to  have  actually  happened  ; 
that  a  malicious  perfon  had  put  them  in  over  night,  and 
in  the  morning  the  proprietor  of  the  fifties  finds  them  all 
dead,  and  the  water  ofTenfive  to  the  laft  degree.  He 
fends  for  a  neighbouring  philofopher,  who,  happening  to 
be  ignorant  of  the  exiftence  of  fuch  animals,  endeavours 
to  account  for  the  phenomenon  upon  Come  of  the  receiv- 
ed principles  of  philofophy.  How  much  theory  would 
here  be  wafted,  and  what  endlefs  difputes  might  enfue 
without  even  a  pqffibility  of  arriving  at  the  truth  !  Juft  fo 
it  is  with  epidemic  difeafes.  The  caufe  is  invifible,  and, 
until  it  becomes  difcoverable  by  our  fenfes,  it  can  never 
be  known  ;  for,  as  has  already  been  obferved,  a  caufe 
never  can  be  known  merely  by  its  effects,  unlefs  we  have 
feen  it,  or  fomebody  who  has  feen  it  gives  us  informa*- 
tion.  And  this  will  certainly  be  found  to  hold  good  in 
every  inftance,  even  from  the  Supreme  Caufe  himfelf  to 
the  diminutive  infect  juft  mentioned. 

Laftly,  I  fhall  confider  another  pqffible  fource  of  epi- 
demics, which  has  besn  hinted  at  by  others.     Allowing 

that 

*  Thegold-fifk  is  a  fmall  fpecies  of  carp,  brought  originally  from  China. 
They  are  adorned  with  the  rnoft  beautiful  andrefplendent  colours,  and  are  fre- 
quently kept  in  jars  for  pleafure.  They  fubfift  entirely  on  the  water,  without 
any  other  food.  This  is  by  Dr.  Fordyce  faid  to  be  the  cafe  with  all  fifties,  pro- 
»ictid  the  w*ter  be  impregnated  with  oxygen. 


i9o  A    TREATISE    ON 

that  infectious  matter  proceeds  from  the  body  of  a  dif- 
eafed  perfon,  as  much  muft  iffue  from  a  tingle  patient 
as  is  fufficient  to  bring  the  difeafe  upon  thoufands,  and 
with  regard  to  the  frnall-pox  and  fome  other  didempers 
we  certainly  know  that  it  is  fo.  This  infection  is  diffi- 
pated  in  the  atmofphere,  and  intimately  combined  with 
it,  fo  that  it  becomes  imperceptiple  and  harmlefs ;  but 
we  have  no  realbn  to  fuppofe  that  it  is  annihilated,  of 
cannot  be  re-produced  in  its  priftine  date.  Water, 
though  perfectly  diffolved,  and  to  appearance  deprived 
of  exigence  in  the  air,  may  yet  be  precipitated  from  it> 
and  pour  down  upon  us  in  deluges.  What  happens  in 
one  cafe  may  happen  in  another.  The  infectious  mat- 
ter, diffolved  in  the  air,  may  by  fome  natural  caufe  be 
precipitated  from  it,  overlhadowing  whole  regions,  and, 
if  it  be  not  powerful  enough  to  produce  the  epidemic  of 
itfelf,  may  certainly  predijpoje  to  it  in  fuch  a  degree^ 
that  the  flighted  additional  caufe  will  bring  it  on. 

Something  indeed  of  this  kind  would  feem  really  to 
be  the  cafe,  otherwife  we  cannot  well  conceive  why  there 
fhould  be  fuch  a  diftincYion  of  difeafes.  Thus  the  in- 
fecYion  of  the  fmall-pox  is  the  fame  all  over  the  world. 
The  variolous  matter  will  never  produce  the  meafles  in 
any  country,  nor  will  the  typhus  produce  a  pleurify. 
The  plague  manifeds  itfelf  to  be  the  fame  didemper  in 
all  its  various  degrees  of  malignity,,  though  even  this 
dreadful  difeafe  is  fometimes  fo  mild  that  it  does  not 
confine  the  patient  to  his  bed.  There  mud  therefore  be 
iome  certain  conditution  in  the  nature  of  the  caufe 
which  produces  fuch  and  fuch  difeafes,  as  certainly  as  in 
the  feed  of  particular  vegetables,  which  gives  to  each  its 
proper  appearance  and  (hape.  The  caufe  of  the  dif- 
eafefo  modified  we  may  call,  with  Dr,  Cullen,  \\sfpecifte 
tontagion. 

Having  thus  treated  fo  largely  upon  contagion  of 
different  kinds,  it  now  remains  to  confider  the  objections 
that  have  been  made  to  the  doctrine  altogether.  It  is 
indeed  furprifing  that  in  fo  great  a  length  of  time,  after 
the  world  hath  fo  often  and  fo  dreadfully  fuffered  from 
violence  of  plagues,  the  iimple  fact,  whether  it  be 

infe-cticus 


THE    PLAGUE.  191 

infectious  or  not,  fhould  not  have  been  determined  :. 
nay,  that  it  mould  ilill  be  queflioned  by  phyikians  of 
no  mean  reputation  whether  fuch  a  thing  as  contagion 
or  infection  can  poj/ibly  exijt.  Dr.  Mofely  in  his  treatife 
on  tropical  difeafes  treats  the  whole  doctrine  of  contagion 
with  the  utmoft  contempt  ;  calling  it  "  a  field  for 
"  fpeculation,  which  has  long  amufed  the  pedantry  of 
"  the  tchools,  and  ihould  never  be  entered  into  by  prac- 
"  tical  writers."  Notwithstanding  this,  however,  he 
doth  enter  into  it,  and  with  fuch  bad  fuccefs,  that  in  the 
very  firfb  paragraph  he  is  obliged  to  derive  the  caufe  of 
difeafes  from  the  ftars !  "  There  are  fome  difeafes  we 
"  know,  (fays  he)  which  follow  the  changes  of  the  at- 
"  mofphere ;  but  there  are  others  which  make  their 
"  revolutions,  and  vifit  the  earth,  at  uncertain  periods; 
"  for  which  we  can  trace  no  caufe,  depending  on  com- 
"  binations,  in  which,  perhaps,  the  influence  of  the  -planets 
<c  may  have  fome  fhare."  Here  we  have  a  ftill  wider 
field  for  fpeculation  than  even  the  fchools  have  given  us  $ 
for  the  Doctor  ought  to  remember  that  the  influence  of 
a  planet^  producing  a  difeafe,  is  as  truly  contagion  as 
the  effluvia  of  a  dunghill  $  and  if  we  have  a  wide  field 
to  traverfe  when  tracing  it  through  the  earth,  we  have 
one  infinitely  more  extenfive  in  purfuing  it  through  the 
heavens.  But  we  may  be  allured  that  planetary  influ- 
ence does  not  produce  difeafes ;  for,  if  it  did,  they  would 
in  all  times  of  peftilence  overfpread  the  face  of  the  earth, 
as  the  influence  of  the  planets,  if  they  have  any,  cer- 
tainly does. 

The  arguments  ufed  by  this  author  againft  terreftrial 
contagion  are, 

i.  "It  has  often  happened  that  hundreds  of  men  in 
"  a  camp  have  been  feized  with  the  dyfentery,  almoft 
"  at  the  fame  time,  after  one  fhower  of  rain,  &c.  Peo- 
"  pie  under  fimilar  circumftances  mult  be  fubjecl:  to 
"  fimilar  difeafes  :  and  yet  it  often  happens  that  dyfen- 
"  tery  begins  with  a  few  people,  and  fpreads  itfelf  by 
'«  degrees  until  a  multitude  are  affected." 

This  argument  rather  militates  againft  himfelf ;  for, 
if  dyfentery  or  any  other  difeafe  was  occafioned  by  an 

evident 


A    TREATISE    ON 

evident  general  caufe  operating  upon  perfons  in  fimilar 
circumftances,  all  of  them  ought  to  be  taken  ill  at  once  $ 
but  Dr.  Mofely  owns  that  they  frequently  are  not. 
There  muft,  of  confequence*  be  fomething  lefs  evident 
which  determines  the  difeafe  to  particular  perfons,  while 
the  general  caufe  operates  equally  upon  all.  This  lefs 
evident  caufe  we  call  contagion. 

2.  "  It  is  incredible  that  the  fmelling  a  little  human 
"  blood,  that  had  ftood  fome  months  in  a  phial,  gave 
"  the  man  adyfentery  mentioned  by  Pringle  ;  or  that  the 
*'  perfon  Foreftus  fpeaks  of  got  the  plague  by  only  putting 
u  his  hand  into  an  old  trunk  ;    or  that  the  making  an 
"  old  feather-bed,  which  had  lain  by  feven  years,  raifed 
"  a  plague  at  Wratijlau,   which  deftroyed  five  thoufand 
"  perfons  in  twelve  weeks,  as  related  by  Alexander  Be- 
ct  ned  ictus,  &c.* — Such  things  may  be  true,  but,   when 
"  probability  is  fhaken,  reafon  always  inclines  to  fkep- 
"  ticifm." 

Here  our  author  mod  evidently  contradicts  himfelf^ 
for  in  the  beginning  of  the  paragraph  he  tells  us  that 
the  things  related  wtincY edible ?  and  in  the  end  of  it,  that 
they  may  be  true.  The  argument,  if  it  may  be  fo  called, 
is  mere  affertion.  It  is  incredible  that  the  fmell  of  putrid 
human  blood  in  a  vial  mould  produce  the  dyfentery. 
Why  mould  this  be  more  incredible  than  that  fmelling 
to  a  charged  vial  fhould  enfure  an  electric  mock  to  the 
perfon  who  did  fo  ?  This  is  entirely  a  queftion  refpecting 
a  matter  of  fact,  not  of  fpeculation.  The  fame  is  the 
cafe  with  the  reft.  It  is  not  more  incredible  that,  if  the 
infection  of  the  plague  was  in  a  trunk,  a  man  mould  get 
the  plague  by  putting  his  hand  in  it,  than  that  he  fhould 
be  burnt  if  he  put  his  hand  into  a  trunk  full  of  hot  alli- 
es. Before  the  Doctor  decided  in  fuch  a  pofitive  man- 
ner, he  ought  to  have  proved  that  no  infection  could  be 
contained  in  a  trunk  ;  but  this,  though  the  very  point 
in  queftion,  he  takes  for  granted,  firft  telling  us  that  the 
contrary  is  incredible,  and  then  that  it  may  be  true  \ 

3.  "  We  obferve  in  camps  and  hofpitals,  that  thofe 
tc  people  whofe  dirty  employments  fubject  them  in  a  par- 
"  ticuiar  manner  to  a  depravation  of 'their  habits,  feldom 

"  efcape 


THE  PLAGUE.  193 

**  efcape  the  prefent  epidemic  5  and  this  gives  rife  to  the 
"  vulgar  expreflion,  and  very  incorrect  notion,  of  catching 
"  the  difeafe.  And  we  obferve  that  others  from  the 
"  flighted  deviation  from  regularity  lofe  the  power  by 
"  which  the  body  refifts  difeafes,  and  they  are  alfo  at- 
"  tacked.  But  thefe  attacks  are  not  to  be  attributed  to 
"  infection  :  for  thofe  people  who  keep  the  vital  and 
"  animal  powers  in  uniform  confederacy,  by  temperance 
c<  and  calmnefsof  mind  (for  fear,  by  lowering  the  vital 
"  energy,  fubjects  the  body  to  difeafe)  nourifhing  diet, 
"  proper  clothing  and  cleanlinefs,  and  keeping  a  free  and 
"  regular  paiTage  for  all  excretions,  are  proof  againft  the 
"  aflaults  of  foul  and  peftilential  air.  Such  people  fel- 
"  dom  fuffer  even  by  the  plague  itfelf  :  while  all  around 
"  them  perifh." 

The  firft  fentence  of  the  above  paragraph  is  fo  ob- 
fcurely  worded,  that  it  is  difficult  to  know  the  author's 
meaning.  I  know  not  of  any  lawful  employment  fo  dirty 
that  it  neceflarily  fubjects  the  perfon  who  practifes  it  to 
a  depravation  of  habit.  The  next  afchbes  every  thing 
to  intemperance  and  fear  *  from  which*  it  feems*  we  are 
to  infer  that  none  but  drunkards,  cowards,  and  dirty* 
naked  ragamuffins,  are  ever  feized  with  epidemic  difeafes. 
But  of  this  we  are  able  to  bring  a  direct  difproof.  1  fup- 
pofe  Dr.  Mofely  will  not  fay  that  the  celebrated  Prince 
Eugene  of  Savoy  was  either  a  coward  or  a  drunkard  ; 
that  he  had  a  dirty  employment,  wanted  proper  food  of 
clothes,  or  was  deficient  in  perfonal  cleanlinefs ;  yet, 
when  in  the  marfhy  parrs  of  Hungary*  he  was  in  danger 
of  death  from  an  epidemic  dyfentery*  notwithstanding 
that  he  was  fo  careful  in  refpect  of  diet*  that  he  had 
pure  water  brought  him  every  day*  probably  from  a 
Goniiderable  diftance.  How  came  he  to  be  affected  by 
the  diftemper  under  fuch  circumftances,  while  Count 
Boueval,  though  as  an  inferior  officer  he  probably  enjoy- 
ed fewer  advantages.,  remained  free  from  it,  taking  only 
a  ftnail  quantity  of  Peruvian  bark  daily  ?  It  is  uncertain 
whether  the  bark  did  really  preferve  him  or  not  *  but 
the  cafe  of  Prince  Eugene  plainly  (hows  that  fobriety, 
temperance,  valour  and  cleanlinefs  are  not  fufficient  to 

C  c  ward 


\ 


(    A    TREATISE    ON 

ward  off  an  epidemic  difeafe,  if  people  come  in  the  way 
of  infection. 

4.  "  It  fhould  follow,  if  contagion  were  fupported  by 
5<  infefted  bodies,  that  no  perfon  iliould  ever  efcape 
'*  infection  (as  at  Oxford  affixes  in  1577*)  who  was 
"  within  the  fphere  of  its  action  -y  and  that  thofe  who 
"  were  entirely  fecluded  from  it,  and  free  from  all  con- 
"  tiguity  to  infe&ed  people,  or  fubftances,  as  the  col  leg- 
"  ers  were  in  the  town  of  Cambridge,  when  the  plague 
"  was  laft  in  England,  (liould  be  exempt  from  it. 

"  Bat,  in  oppofition  to  this,  Rhazes  lived  rzo  years,, 
s<  and  often  pradtifed  in  plagues.  Hodges  remained  in 
"  town,  and  attended  the  lick,  during  the  great  plague 
"  in  1665.  Kaye  was  in  the  midil  of  pradice  in  the 
**  fweating  ficknefs  in  1551,  without  any  inconveniency. 
"  Procopius  informs  us,  that  during  a  terrible  plague  at 
**  Conftantinople,  in  543,  which  almoft  deftroyed  the 
"  whole  city,  no  phyfician  nor  other  perfon  got  the 
"  plague  by  attending^  drefiing  or  touching  the  fick. 


ir  John  Pringle,  from  Stowe's  Chronicle,  gives  the  following  account  of 
thefe  aflizcs.  «'  On  the  4th,  $th  and  6th  days  of  July  were  the  aflizes  held 
«  at  Oxon,  where  was  arraigned  and  condemned  Rowland  Jenkins,  for  ajedi- 
'«•  ticus  tongue ;  at  which  time  there  arofe  amidft  the  people  fuch  a  damp,  that 
«'  almoft  all  were  fmothered.  Very  few  efcaped  that  were  not  taken.  Here 
«*  died  in  Oxon  three  hundred  perfons  ;  and  fickened  there»  but  died  in  other 
<*  places,  two  hundred  and  odd. 

««  The  fcffions  at  the  Old  Bailey  in  Weftminfter,  in  1650,  proved  alfo  fatal 
•*  to  many  ;  of  which  Sir  J'ohn  alfo  gives  an  account.  «  I  have  been  informed 
«"*  (fays  he)  that»  at  thofe  Seffions,  about  a  hundred  were  tried*  who  were  all 
««  kept  in  clofe  places  as  long  as  the  court  fat ;  and  that  each  room  was  but 
««  14  feet  by  n,  and  feven  feet  high.  The  bail-dock  is  alfo  a  frnall  room 
1  taken  off  one  of  the  corners  of  the  court,  and  left  open  at  the  top  :  in  this, 

*  during  the  trials,  are  put  fomeof  the  malefadtors  who  have  been  under  the 
**  clofeft  confinemcRt.     The  hall  in  the  Old  Bailey  is  a  room  of   only  30  feet 

fquare.     Now  whether  the  air  was  moft  tainted  from  the  bar  by  fome  prilbn- 
ers  then  ill  of  the  jail  diftemper,  or  by  tlie  general   uncleanlinefs  of  fuch, 
**  perfons,  is  uncertain  ;   but  it  is  probable  that  both  caufes  concurred.     And 
'  we  may  eafily  conceive  how  much  it  might  have  been  vitiated  by  the  foul 
fleams  of  the    bail-dock,  and  of  the  two  rooms  opening  into  the  court  in 
'  which  the  prifoners   were  the  whole  day  crowded  together  till  they  were 
«  brought  out  to  be  tried.     It  appeared  afterwards,  that  thefe  places  had  not 

*  been  cleaned  for  lome  years.     The  poifonous  quality  of  the  air  was  aggra- 
«•  vated  by  the  heat  and  clofenefs  of  the  court,  and  by  the  perfpiiabie  matter 
«  of  a  number  of  people  of  all  forts,  penned  up  for  the  moft  part  of  the  day» 
<  without  breathing  the  iYee  air,  or  receiving  any   refreftiment.     The  bench 

*  conllfted  of  fix  perfons,  whereof  four  died,  together  with    two  or  three  of 
«  the  eounfel,  one  of  the  under   fbcriffV,  feveralofthe  Middiefex  jury,  and 

*  others  prefent  to  the  amount  of  above  forty  ;  without  making  allowance  for 

*  th*fe  of  a  lower  rank,  whofe  death  may  not  have  been  heard  of  ;  and  with- 
««  out  iocludiag  any  that  did  not  (kken  within  a  fortnight  after  the   feflions.1? 

Cringle's  Qbfervatioiisp.  329  &  ieq.), 


THE    PLAGUE.  1-95 

*'  Yet  moft  of  the  Capuchins,  the  Jefuits,  the  Recoilets, 
"  the  Obfervantines,  the  Barefooted  Carmelites,  the 
"  Reformed  Auguftines,  all  the  Grand  Carmelites,  the 
"  Grand  Trinitarians,  the  Reformed  Trinitarians,  the 
"  Monks  of  Loretto,  of  Mercy,  the  Dominicans,  and 
•"  Grand  Auguftines,  who  kept  themfelves  fecluded  in 
"  their  feveral  convents,  and  took  every  precaution  to 
"  avoid  the  plague,  while  it  raged  at  Marfeilles,  perifhed 
"  by  it. 

"  There  are  no  epidemical  nor  contagious  difeafes 
"  that  attack  every  perfon  who  breathes  the  fame  air* 
"  or  that  is  in  contact  with  the  infection,  elfe  whole 
"  regions  would  be  depopulated.  The  habit  muft  be 
"  graduated,  or  adapted,  for  the  reception  of  a  difeafe. 
"  In  fome  conftittitions  of  body  the  accefs  is  eafy,  in 
"  fome  difficult,  in  others  impoflible.  But  where  the 
"  .revelation  of  this  myftery  is  to  be  found y  none  can  tell" 

Jn  this,  which  our  author  feems  to  have  defigned  as 
his  grand  argument,  it  is  plain  that  the  deficiency  is  as 
great  as  in  any  of  the  reft.  If  we  fuppofe  the  plague,  or 
any  other  epidemic  difeafe,  to  arife  from  fome  general 
caufe,,  let  that  caufe  be  contagion  or  any  thing  elfe,  it 
.ought  to  operate  upon  all  who  come  within  its  fphere  of 
adion,  as  Dr.  Mofely  obferves  of  infeSlion.  If  experience 
(hows  that  it  does  not,  the  argument  will  hold  equally 
againft  a  conftitution  of  the  atmofphere,  putrid  effluvia, 
heat,  cold,  or  any  thing  elfe,;  and  in  fad  the  Doftor 
fairly  gives  up  the  point  at  laft,  by  refolving  the  whole 
into  an  unreveakd  myftery.  With  regard  to  what  he 
.fays  about  the  plague  at  Marfeiiles  getting  into  the  con- 
vents, of  which  he  prefents  us  with  fuch  a  catalogue,,  it  is 
impoflible  to  know  what  precautions  were  ufed,  and  we 
are  allured  that  in  Turky  it  is.thought  neceflary  for  the 
Europeans  not  only  to  guard  againft  a  communication 
with  their  own  fpecies,  but  fome  of  the  brute  creation 
alfo.  Cats  particularly  are  dreaded  fo  much,  that  a 
general  mafTacre  of  them  commences  among  thofe  who 
•ufe  precautions,  the  favourites  of  that  fpecies  muft  be 
ifent  to  a  diftance,  and  M.  Volney  mentions  two  mer- 
chants who  had  fhut  up  their  houies,  and  yet  had  the 

plague 


j96  A    TREATISE    ON 

plague  imported  by  a  cat.  In  (hort,  confidering  that 
infection  is  fuppofed  to  be  altogether  invifible  and  im- 
perceptible, it  is  impoflible  to  fay  how  it  may  be  convey- 
ed, 'or  to  what  extent  it  may  occafionally  act  when  once 
brought  into  a  country.  Dr.  Fordyceis  of  opinion  that 
the  diftance  at  which  infection  may  acl  depends  on  the 
difpofition  of  the  air  at  the  time  ;  and  he  obferves,  that 
a  difference  in  this  refpect  is  obfervable  in  the  odoriferous 
effluvia  of  vegetables.  "  If  the  air  be  loaded  with  moif- 
*?  ture,  they  reach  to  a  much  greater  diftance.  Vapour 
<c  arifing  from  a  field  of  beans,  for  inftance,  or  a  pu- 
<f  trid  ditch,  is  fenfible  to  the  noftrils  at  a  greater  dif- 
*<  tance  if  the  air  is  moift."  He  obferves  indeed  that  this 
has  never  been  verified  with  regard  to  infection ;  but  as 
it  is  evidently  the  cafe  with  putrid  effluvia,  which  very 
often  accompany  infection,  we  may  reafonably  conclude 
that  it  is  the  cafe  with  the  latter  alfo. 

Let  us  next  take  a  view  of  what  is  advanced  by  the 
authors  of  The  Science  of  Life  upon  this  fubject. 
Mr.  M'Lean,  who  puts  his  name  to  this  part,  informs  us 
of  his  conviction  "that  no  general  difeafe,  which  affects 
**  a  perfon  more  than  once  during  life,  can  ever  be  com- 
"  municated  by  contagion  ;"  and  he  defines  contagion 
"  a  fpecific  matter,  generated  in  a  perfon  affected  with 
<c  difeafe,  and  capable  of  communicating  that  particular 
<c  difeafe,  with  or  without  contact,  to  another."  It 
would  here  be  no  improper  queftion,  by  what  means  he 
comes  to  know  that  a  contagious  difeafe  can  affect  a, 
perfon  only  once.  But  even  this  queftion  is  unnecef- 
fary.  Dr.  Guthrie  gives  an  Account  of  a  gentleman  who 
had  the  courage  to  inoculate  himfelf  for  the  plague,  in 
confequence  of  which  he  had  the  difeafe  with  the  con^ 
comitant  fymptoms  of  buboes,  &c.  Here  then  we  fee 
the  plague  communicated  by  "  a  fpecific  matter  gene- 
rated in  a  perfon  affected  "  with  the  fame  difeafe,  i.  e. 
by  contagion,  according  to  Mr.  M'Lean's  own  defini- 
tion. The  difpute  therefore  might  ftop,  as  this  fact 
feems  to  be  decifwe  on  the  fubject  ;  but  as  he  has  at 
great  length  inftfted  upon  the  argument  laft  quoted  from 
J)r.  Mofely,  it  feems  neceflary  to  follow  him  a  little  far-r 
tbcr.  "If 


THE    PLAGUE.  f  197 

"  If  a  perfon  (fays  our  author)  be  affefted  wkh  any 
**  difeafe,  it  will  neceflarily  be  communicated  to  every 
c*  other  perfon  who  comes  within  the  infectious  diftance, 
*c  and  is  not  at  the  fame  time  labouring  under  fome  difeafe 
"  higher  in  degree.  This  proceeds  upon  a  fuppofition 
that  his  theory  is  abfolutely  perfect  and  infallible  ;  which, 
however  plain  it  may  appear  to  himfelf,  will  not  proba- 
bly be  admitted  by  others  without  fome  proof.  Indeed 
he  himfeif  afterwards  adduces  fome  facts  which  decifive- 
lyf  overthrow  it.  "  A  child  (fays  he)  here  and  thefre  is 
"  exempted  from  fmall-pox,  even  though  expofed  to 
"  its  contagion. "  How  comes  this  to  pafs  ?  Thedifeafe, 
we  are  told,  is  contagious,  the  child  is  expofed  to  the  con- 
tagion, and  yet  is  not  affected.  In  #//fuch  cafes  it  would 
be  ridiculous  to  fuppofe  the  fubjects  labouring  under  a 
difeafe  higher  in  degree  than  the  contagion  could  pro- 
duce. In  numbers  of  inftances  of  this  kind  the  children 
ivere  evidently  in  good  health,  and  yet  would  perhaps  be 
feized  at  an  after  period  when  no  more  expofed  to  conta- 
gion than  they  had  been  at  firft. 

"  Small-pox,  meafles,  and  other  general  difeafes,  which 
"  occur  only  once  during  life,  never  difappear,  until  the 
<c  whole,  of  thofe  who  have  been  within  the  infectious 
*c  diftance,  and  were  not  at  the  time  labouring  under 
*'  fome  difeafe  higher  in  degree,  have  received  the  infec- 
^  tion.  As  thefe  difeafes  are  very  mild,  children  fome* 
*c  times  refift  the  power  of  contagion  from  the  fuperior 
<e  force  of  fome  other  difeafes,  although  they  may  be  fo 
"  flight  as  to  efcape  common  obfervation." 

In  this  paragraph  we  have  the  favourite  maxim  of  our 
author  repeated,  twice  indeed,  without  a  fingle  fact  to 
fupport  it.  Inftead  of  this  we  find  hypothecs  heaped 
upon  hypothecs,  as  the  giants  are  faid  to  have  heaped 
mountains  upon  one  another  in  order  to  get  up  to  hea- 
ven. He  firft  fuppofes  that  the  infection  of  the  fmall- 
pox  feizes  on  the  whole  of  thofe  on  whom  it  falls.  The 
exceptions  to  this  maxim  he  explains  by  another  fuppo* 
fition,  viz.  that  the  contagion  of  the  fmall-pox  is  coun- 
terafted  by  another  difeafe.  The  fecond  hypothecs  is 
fupported  by  a  third,  and  that  a  very  extraordinary  one, 

that 


V98  A    TREATISE  ON 

that  the  fmall-pox  (a  difeafe  which  has  deftroyed  innu- 
merable multitudes)  is  very  mild  ;  and  this  third  by  a 
fourth,  that  the  difeafes  which  counteracted  the  conta- 
gion were  fo  flight  as  to  efcape  common  obfervation.  It 
was  incumbent  on  Mr.  M'Lean  to  have  pointed  out 
fome  of  thofe  difeafes,  and  to  have  informed  us  how  they 
came  to  counteract,  this  contagion.  But  it  is  needlefs  to 
argue  with  one  who  writes  fo  extravagantly.  Far  from 
the  mode  of  rcafoning  followed  by  Dr.  Fordyce,  who 
decided  from  the  majority  of  facts,  our  author  deter- 
mines every  thing  by  his  own  preconceived  opinions. 
"  That  the  power  which  occafioned  difeafe  at  the  Ox- 
cc  ford  affizes  (fays  he)  was  not  contagious  matter,  is 
"  proved  by  its  producing  diarrhoea  in  fome,  while  it 
"  produced  fevers  in  others."  But,  if  it  was  not  conta- 
gious matter,  what  kind  of  matter  was  it  ?  Or  how 
•comes  our  author  to  know  that  thofe  who  were  affected 
by  the  diarrhoea  were  not  Irkewife  affected  by  fever ? 
How  many  fevers  are  attended  by  diarrhoea,  or  how  ma- 
ny ceafe  when  diarrhoea  comes  on  !  Jt  would  have  been 
•equally  conclufive  to  fay  that  the  matter  was  not  conta- 
gious, becaufe  fome  died  and  fome  recovered. 

I  (hall  only  take  notice  of  one  aCertion  more,  it  being 
'both  tedious  and  unneceiTary  to  follow  him  through  the 
whole.  "  From  -every  record  of  epidemic  and  peftilen- 
tial  difeafes,  it  would  appear,  that  they  have  their  flated 
*"  periods  of  recurrence  ;  that  thefe  periods  are  fuch 
**  months  as  are  mod  remarkable  for  vicifiitudes  of  the 
•"  atmofphere .;  that  they  become  general  only  in  thofe 
"  years  in  which  thefe  viciflitudes  are  extreme  ;  that 
*'  they  do  not  occur  in  feafons  when  the  heats  or  colds, 
*'  however  intenfe,  are  equable  ;  nor  in  -years  when  the 
**  (late  of  the  atmofphere  is  tempered  throughout  ;  and 
*c  that  they  'uniformly  ceafe  with  the  eftablifhment  of 
tc  an  equable  flate  of  the  atmofphere,  whether  the  wea- 
ei  ther  be  cold  or  hot.  .  .  .  In  Aleppo,  according  to  Dr. 
"  Ruire],the  Europeans  regularly  (hut  themfelves  up  in 
're  their  houfes  every  ytar,  at  fome  period  between  April 
•"  and  July  j  and  the  rich  natives  begin  to  adopt  the 
"  fame  plan,  &c.  .  .  .  From  this  fact  it  appears,  that 

^f  the 


THE    PLAGUE.  199 

the  plague  occurs  at  Aleppo,  in  a  ftate  more  or  lefs 
mild,  almoft  annually,  and  that  it  commences  and  ceafes 
at  certain  known  periods.  But  it  has  been  remarked 
that,  in  its  mod  fevere  ftate,  this  difeafe  recurs  only  at 
periods  often  years,  or  thereabouts  :  a  regularity  which 
cannot,  upon  any  known  principle,  be  attributed  to  a 
power  of  fuch  cafual  application  as  contagious  mat- 


ter." 


In  the  beginning  of  this  papagraph  our  author  makes 
a  bold  appeal  to  every  record  of  epidemic  arid  peftilen- 
tial  diforders ;  but  here  we  may  aik,  Has  he  confulted 
every  record  of  thefe  disorders  ?  That  he  has  not,  we  may 
readily  believe  -9  but  even  thofe  which  are  hinted  at  feern 
either  to  have  been  very  inaccurately  confulte'd,  or  wil- 
fully mifreprefented.  To  evince  this  I  fubjoin  the  fol- 
lowing abftradt  of  what  Dr.  Alexander  Rufiel  fays  of 
the  plague  in  general,  with  the  annotations  of  his  bro- 
ther, Dr.  Patrick,  takjen  from  Ruffei's  Natural  Hiftory 
of  Aleppo. 

The  inhabitants  of  Aleppo  fuppofe  that  the  plague 
viiits  them  once  in  ten  years,  and  that  it  is  always  im- 
ported j  and  the  moft  fevere  plagues  are  thought  by 
fome  to  come  from  Damafcus,  while  others  contend 
that  they  come  from  the  northward.  Dr.  Alexander 
RufTel  thinks  this  popular  opinion  of  the  return  of  the 
plague  not  altogether  unfounded  ;  and  he  thinks  it  alfo 
probable  that  it  never  invades  Alepp£  without  having 
previoufly  attacked  either  Damafcus  or  Khillis,  Aintab, 
Marafli  or  Uufa.  He  thinks  that  its  appearance  always 

"is  in  one  of  the  maritime  towns  of  Syria  ;  if  in  Sidon,. 
Byroot  or  Tripoli,  Damafcus  is  commonly  the  channel 
by  which  it  reaches  Aleppo ;  but,  if  it  (hows  itfelf  firft 
at  Scanderoon  or  Byafs,  its  approach  is  by  the  way  of 
Khillis  or  Aintab. 

On  this  Dr.  Patrick  Ruflel  obferves,  that  the  account 
of  Aleppo  being  vifited  only  once  in  ten  or  twelve  years- 
is  confirmed  by.  a  letter  from  an  Englifli  gentleman,  in 
1719,  who  had  refided  there  for  30  years.  The  dates 

.of  the  plagues  which  Dr.  Patrick  had  procured  were, 
1719,  1729  and  1733.  Another  began  in  1742,  and 

terminated 


200  A   TREATISE    ON 

terminated  in  1744;  from  which  time  there  was  no 
return  trll  1757  or  1758,  when  it  continued  at  Aleppo 
till  1762,  and  did  not  entirely  quit  the  country  till  1764. 
The  plague  of  1719  was  faid  to  come  from  the  north- 
ward, but  this  appeared  to  want  confirmation  ;  but  all 
accounts  agree  that  it  raged  at  Tripoli,  Sidon,  &c.  two 
months  before  it  appeared  in  Aleppo.  Egypt  was  ra- 
vaged by  the  plague  in  1728,  as  was  alfo  Byafs  and  the 
neighbouring  parts  in  the  fame  fummer;  and  next  year 
it  appeared  at  Aleppo.  In  1732  it  raged  at  Sidon,  Tri- 
poli and  Damafcus ;  next  year  it  feized  Aleppo. 

Dr.  Alexander  goes  on  to  inform  us,  that  the  difeafe 
never  fprsads  much  in  winter.  It  advances  with  the 
fpring,  comes  to  its  height  in  June,  declines  in  July, 
and  terminates  in  Augufb.  "  None  (he  fays)  are  ever 
feized  with  in  September  and  October,  not  even  in  the 
plague  of  1 742,  which  returned  three  years  fuccefTively  ;" 
but  Dr.  Patrick  fays  that  this  was  not  confirmed  by  his 
experience  in  1760,  though  he  owns  that  the  diftemper 
declines  remarkably  at  that  period  ;  and  the  natives  are 
greatly  inclined  to  have  it  believed  that  the  diftem- 
per has  totally  ceafed,  and  to  deceive  the  Europeans  in 
this  refpect.  The  times  at  which  the  Europeans  fliut 
up  and  come  out  of  their  confinement  ihow  only  the 
increafe  or  decreafe  of  the  difeafe,  but  not  its  beginning 
or  ending.  The  plague  of  1719  made  terrible  havoc. 
Europeans  then  §iut  up  about  the  middle  of  March, 
and  kept  confined  till  the  middle  of  July.  In  1729 
they  did  not  ihut  up  till  the  middle  of  May,  and  were 
not  confined  above  a  month,  the  number  of  fick  being 
fmall.  In  1733  they  were  confined  from  the  middle  of 
March  to  the  middle  of  July,  but  the  diftemper  was 
lefs  violent  than  in  1719.  In  1742,  the  time  of  con- 
finement much  as  in  1729.  In  1743  Unit  up  April  n, 
and  opened  the  middle  of  July.  The  plague  violent, 
but  lefs  fo  than  in  1733.  In  1744  few  (hut  up,  the 
number  of  fick  being  inconfiderable.  In  1760  they 
fhut  up  on  the  3Oth  of  June,  and  continued  about  a 
month.  In  1761  mut  up  May  28,  rode  out  Aug.  i, 
and  opened  completely  the  loth  of  that  month.  In 

1762 


THE    PLAGUE.  201 

1762  they  were  confined  from  the  laft  week  in  May  to 
the  firft  of  Auguft.  From  1762  to  1787,  a  larger  peri- 
od than  ufual,  the  city  was  free  from  the  plague.  In 
1787  it  broke  out  among  the  Jews  in  the  month  of 
April5  increafed  in  May,  raged  violently  in  June,  and 
terminated  in  July. 

From  thefe  accounts  it  appears,  as  Dr.  Alexander 
RufTel  informs  us3  that  the  plague  of  one  year  differs 
remarkably  from  that  of  another  ^  but  he  fays,  that, 
at  Aleppo,  it  is  never  attended  with  fuch  fcenes  of 
horror  as  have  been  known  in  European  countries  j  for 
which  Dr.  Patrick  afligns  the  following  reafons :  i.  The 
markets  are  cooftantly  fupplied  with  provifions.  2.  The 
dread  of  the  contagion  is  much  lefs.  3.  The  fick  are  lefs 
liable  to  be  deferted  by  their  attendants  (but  this,  accord- 
ing to  his  own  obfervation,  is  not  always  the  cafe)  and 
4.  The  regular,  fpeedy  interment  of  the  dead  prevents  a 
ipectacle  far  from  uncommon  in  the  European  plagues, 
and  which  of  all  others  is  the  moft  mocking  to  humanity. 

"  Extreme  heat  (fays  Dr.  Alexander)  kerns  to  check 
"  the  progrefs  of  the  diftemper.  July  is  a  hotter  month 
"  than  June,  and  the  feafon  wherein  the  plague  ceafes 
"  at  Aleppo  is  that  in  which  the  heats  are  moft  excef- 
"  five."  His  experience  did  not  confirm  a  popular 
opinion  at  Aleppo,  and  which  has  likewife  been  adopted 
by  many  medical  writers,  that  the  moon  has  any  influ- 
ence on  the  diftemper.  To  have  had  the  diftemper 
once  does  not  fecure  a  perfon  againft  future  attacks. 
Numbers  of  people  who  were  alive  when  he  left  Alep- 
po had  it  twice  or  oftener ;  and  he  had  inftances  of  fome 
being  infecled  thrice  in  one  feafon.  Dr.  Patrick  Ruflci 
has  observations  to  the  fame  purpofe. 

From  this  it  appears,  that  the  popular  opinion  at  Alep- 
po, which  Mr.  M'Lean  wifhes  to  eftablifh  as  a  certainty, 
is  by  no  means  fo  well  founded  that  we  can  build  any 
theory  upon  it.  The  misfortune  is,  that,  wherever  a 
theory  is  built  upon  any  thing  faid  to  be  conftant  and 
invariable,  a  Jingle  failure  overturns  the  whole.  Now, 
in  the  dates  of  plagues  above  mentioned,  the  variations 
are  fo  great  that  it  is  impofiible  to  draw  any  certain 

D  d  conclufiou 


202  A    TREATISE    ON 

eonclufion  from  them.  In  the  firft:  three  inftances  of 
1719,  1729  and  1733  there  is  indeed  a  coincidence  of 
the  firft  two,  but  the  laft  falls  fhort  by  no  lefs  than^tf 
years.  What  then  does  Mr.  M'Lean  mean  by  his  "  ten 
years,  or  thereabouts  ?"  Can  thereabouts  imply  a  differ- 
ence of  more  than  half?  The  Englifh  gentleman's  tefti-' 
mony  who  refided  30  years  in  that  country  could  extend 
no  further  than  to  three  plagues,  and  even  thefe  are  not 
mentioned.  The  fourth  inftancein  1742  is  deficient  in 
one  year  -,  the  fifth  rn  1757  or  1758  exceeds  by  three  or 
four  years,  and  the  fixth  from,  1762  to  1787  by  no  lefs 
than  fifteen  years. 

Aa  anonymous  writer  in  a  Scots  periodical  publica- 
tion entitled  "  The  Bee,"  has  partly  adopted  the  above 
opinion,  but  adds  others  for  which  he  has  not  thought 
proper  to  adduce  any  authority.  "  It  vifits  weft  parts  of 
"  AJia  once  in  ten  or  twelve  years,  and  carries  off  an 
"  eighth  or  tenth  of  the  inhabitants.  There  have  been 
"  plagues  which  have  carried  off  one  fourth  of  the  inha- 
"  bitants.  The  farther  eaft  you  go,  the  lefs  frequent  it 
4C  is — every  2Oth,  4Oth,  and,  even  at  Bailorah,  every 
"  9©th  year ;  but  then  this  fcourge  is  moft  dreadful, 
*e  The  laft  plague  at  Bafforah,  which  had  not  vifited  the 
<c  city  for  96  years,  carried  of  more  than  nine  tenths  of 
"  the  inhabitants.'1*  It  is  aftonifhing  that  people  will 
write  in  fuch  a  manner  as  tofubject  themfelves  to  endlefs 
eriticifm  on  account  of  their  incorififtency.  The  plague, 
this  writer  fays,  vifits  moft  parts  of  Afia  once  every  ten 
or  twelve  years,  and  yet  it  goes  no  farther  eaft  than  BafFo- 
rah  ;  a  fpace  fcarce  equivalent  to  the  twentieth  part  of 
Afia  !  Even  in  this  fmall  fpace,  it  varies  from  ten  or 
twelve,  to  twenty,  forty,  or  even  ninety  years ;  and,  to 
complete  the  whole,  inftead  of  giving  any  inftance  of  the 
periodical  return  of  the  plague  at  an  interval  of  ninety 
years,  we  have  one  of  its  difappearance  for  ninety-Jut 
years  ! 

From  all  this  it  is  evident,  that  no  dependence  can  be 
placed  on  fuch  vague  accounts  with  regard  to  the  peri- 
odical returns  of  the  plague.  Even  the  time  of  (hotting 

up 

*  Bcei  tol.  xvui,  p. 


THE   PLAGUE.1  203 

cp  the  houfcs  in  Aleppo  is  not  accurately  related,  for, 
from  the  above  abftraft  it  is  plain,  that  they  are  fome- 
times  (hut  up  in  March  ;  while  Mr.  McLean  would 
have  us  to  believe  that  it  is  always  between  April  and 
July.  It  is  needlefs  to  wade  through  a  jumble  of  un- 
fupported  aflertions,  which,  being  backed  by  no  evidence, 
fall  to  the  ground  of  themfelves.  "  I  will  venture  to  af- 
"  Jert  (fays  he)  that  no  perfon  in  perfed  health  ever 
"  was  or  can  be  expofed  to  the  power  of  contagion,  with- 
<c  out  receiving  the  fpecific  difeafe  which  that  conta- 
"  gion  produces ;  excepting  in  fmall-pox,  mealies,  &c. 
"  when  the  perfon  has  previoufly  had  the  difeafe." — 
How  comes  he  to  know  all  this  ?  Or,  though  our  au- 
thor ventures  to  aflert,  mud  we  of  neceflity  venture  to 
believe  ?  When  he  afcribes  the  origin  of  epidemics,  and 
the  plague  itfelf,  to  the  viciflitudes  of  the  atmofphere, 
not  a  fingle  fact  is  adduced  in  fupport  of  his  hypothefis« 
One  very  ftrange  proof  indeed  he  brings  from  Dr.  Rum, 
viz.  that  the  latter  had  been  informed  by  a  gentleman 
who  refided  in  tropical  countries,  that,  in  the  month  of 
July,  feveral  weeks  before  the  yellow  fever  became  ge- 
neral, he  had  obferved  a  peculiar  and  univerfal  fallownefs 
of  complexion  in  the  countenances  of  the  people  of  PhiL 
ladelphia,  fuch  as  he  had  feen  in  thofe  of  the  more 
fouthern  countries  before  the  appearance  of  bilious  fevers 
in  them.  Surely  it  is  a  very  ftrange  mode  of  argument 
to  tell  us  of  the  colour  of  people's  countenances  inftead 
of  the  ftates  or  viciflitudes  of  the  atmofphere,  which  we 
are  made  to  believe  were  the  caufes  of  that  change. 
Another  quotation  is  made  from  the  fame  author  in 
which  a  warm,  dry,  ftagnating  air  is  conjeftured  to  have 
been  the  caufe  of  difeafes  ;  but  he  does  not  even  quote 
Dr.  Rum  faying  that  it  was  the  caufe  of  yellow  fever, 
much  lefs  of  all  epidemic  difeafes.  Refides,  to  fay  that 
any  thing  isoccafioned  by  z,Jlate>  or  viciffitude  of  the  at- 
mofphere, is  fuch  a  vague  mode  of  expreffion,  that  it 
muft  either  mean  nothing,  or  be  contradictory  to  itfelf. 
A  ftate  of  the  atmofphere  we  muft  fuppofe  to  mean  that 
it  continues  for  fome  time  either  to  be  wet  or  dry ;  a  vi- 
dj]itude>  when  it  changes  from  one  to  the  other.  If  an 

epidemic 


204  A    TREATISE    ON 

epidemic  then  is  produced  by  zjtate,  it  cannot  alfo  be 
produced  by  a  viclffitude^  of  the  atmofphere  :  or,  if  fome 
epidemics  are  produced  by  dates,  and  others  by  vicifii- 
tudes,  we  ought  to  be  informed  which  produce  one  kind, 
and  which  another.  But  throughout  the  whole  of  this 
diflertation  we  have  neither  diftin&nefs  nor  regularity, 
nor  indeed  any  thing  but  affertion,  fupported  only  by  an 
imaginary  theory. 

Difmiffing  at  length  therefore  thefe  conjeftural  theo- 
ries, let  us  endeavour  to  deduce  from  certain  and  un- 
doubted fa&s  the  connexion  between  the  ftate  of  the 
body,  and  the  operations  upon  it  of  other  caufes,  invifi- 
ble  indeed  to  our  eyes,  but  difcoverable  by  our  rational 
faculties,  and  in  fome  meafure  capable  of  being  made 
the  obje&s  of  our  fenfes  alfo. 

i.  From  the  account  given  of  the  ftru&ure  of  the 
human  body,  it  undeniably  follows,  and  has  already  been, 
obferved,  that  all  parts  of  it  are  fo  conne&ed  together, 
that  none  can  fuffer  any  very  grievous  injury  without  af- 
fedingall  the  reft. 

i.  The  life  of  man  depends  immediately  on  the  air. 
From  this  element  the  blood  receives  heat  and  a  vital 
fpirit  diffufing  itfelf  from  the  blood  along  the  nerves, 
and  thence  expended  in  the  operations  of  lifp  and  fen- 
fat  ion. 

3.  From   undoubted  experiments*  it   appears,  that 
this  vital  fpirit  pofieifes  in  a  great  degree  the  properties 
of  elefitricity,  infomuch  that  many  fuppofe  them  to  be 
the   fame.     This    is    indeed  denied   by  the  celebrated 
anatomift,  Dr.  Monro,  but  he  allows  that  the  nervous 
fluid  is  fimilar  to  eleclricity,  and  it    is   certain  that  the 
ele&rical  fluid    can   affedl  it  in  fuch  a   manner  that  we 
may  reafonably  believe  them  to  be  the  fame. 

4.  The    air  a&s  upon  the  blood  by  the  latent  heat  it 
Contains.      The    air    itfelf  is   compofed  of  fomething 
volatilifed   by  heat.       In  fome  cafes  this  is  evidently  a 
terreftrial   fubftance,   as   in  that  of  inflammable  air,  or 
hydrogen,  which   is  formed  of  charcoal  volatilifed   by 
iieat,  with  the  addition  of  a  little  water.     In  the  cafe  of 

oxygen, 

*  Thofe  of  Galvani  and  others  on  animal  cleffr 


THE  PLAGUE.  205 

oxygen,  or  dephlogifticated  air,  the  combination  fecms 
to  be  the  matter  of  heat  (which  I  mall  hereafter  diftin- 
guifh  by  the  name  of  the  ethereal  fluid)  with  water  de- 
prived of  its  carbonic  principle.  This  coincides  with 
the  opinion  of  Dr.  Prieftley,  who  fays  that  the  bafis  of 
dephlogifticated  air  feems  to  be  dephlogifticated  water. 
But,  let  the  bafis  be  what  it  will,  the  ethereal  fluid  which 
volatilifes  it  is  the  agent  -,  the  bafis  is  entirely  paffive,  and 
only  modifies  or  reftrains  the  action  of  the  other  fluid, 
fo  that  it  does  not  exert  itfelf  except  in  particular  cafes. 
Fixed  air,  or  carbonic  acid,  is  compofed  of  the  bafe  of 
oxygen  united  with  a  certain  portion  of  carbon,  and  the 
whole  volatilifed  by  the  ethereal  fluid.  Phlogifticated 
air,  azote,  or  fepton,  according  to  Dr.  Prieftley,  confifts 
of  the  bafis  of  dephlogifticated  air  along  with  a  certain 
proportion  of  carbon  different  from  that  which  produces 
fixed  air,  volatilifed  by  the  fame  agent  ;*  and  fo  we 
may  determine  concerning  every  other  fpecies  of  air. 

5.  In  certain  cafes  the  ethereal  fluid  quits  thofe  fub- 
ftances  with  which  it  is  united  :    the  air  is  then  decom- 
pofed,  the  fubftance  into  which  the  other  fluid  enters  is 
heated,  or  rendered   more  fluid  than  before   (perhaps 
both)  while  the  bafis  either  unites  itfelf  to  the  moifture 
of  the  lungs,  or  is  thrown  out  by  the  breath.     Whether 
in  any  cafe  the  bafis  can  pervade  the  membranes,  and 
thus  mix  itfelf  with  the   blood,  notwithftanding  the 
pofitive  affertions  of  Dr.  Girtanner  and  others,  is  very- 
doubtful,  and  does  not  admit  of  any  pofitive  proof. 

6.  The  blood,  being  a  fluid,  muft  be  fubjecl  to  the 
fame  laws  with  other  fluids.      A  certain  quantity  of 
latent  heat  muft  be  contained  in  it,  in  order  to  give  the 
degree  of  fluidity  naturally   belonging  to  it.      If  this 
quantity  be  augmented,  the  fluidity  will  be  augmented, 
and  the  blood  will  become  thinner  -,  if  it  bediminifhed, 
the  contrary  will  take  place ;    and  if  we  fuppofe  a  great 
proportion  of  this  latent  heat  to  be  abftradied,  it  is  not 
unreafonable  to  fuppofe  that  ibmething  like  a  congelation 
may  take  place,   and  the  blood  be  changed  into  a  folid 
fubftance  of  fuch  a  nature  as  cannot  any  more  be  made 
io  refume  its  former  qualities.  7,  By 

*See  Medical  Repofitory,  voi  ii,  No.  iii. 


A    TREATISE    ON 

7.  By  augmenting  the  fenfible  heat,  the  blood  is  af- 
fected in  the  fame  manner  as  any  other  fluid  ;    it  fuffers 
expanfion,  by  which  the  vefTels  are  dilated  in  proportion, 
and,   if  this  expanfion  and  dilation  be  carried  to  a  cer- 
tain length,  a  rupture  of  many  of  the  fmall  veflels,   and 
apoplexy,  or  fome  other  grievous  difeafe,  may  enfue. 

8.  By  breathing  certain  kinds  of  air,  the  fluidity,  heat 
and  expanfion  of  the  blood,  and  of  confequence  the  di- 
lation of  the  blood-veffels,  are  afTec~led.     Thus,  when  a 
perfon  breathes  a  quantity  of  the  fume    of  charcoal, 
containing  much  fixed  air,  he  feels  himfelf  affected  with 
pain  and  a  fenfation  of  fulnefs  in  his  head  -,    he  becomes 
flcepy,  and,  if  the  quantity  be  fufficiently  great,  he  falls 
into  an  apoplexy,  and  dies.     From  difledions  it  appears 
that  fuch  as  die  in  this  manner  have  the  capillary  vefTels 
greatly  diflended,  and  even  ruptured  ;  the  heat  of  the 
body  is  vaftly  augmented,  and  even  continues  fome  time 
after  death.     Hence  it  is  evident,  that,    by  breathing 
this  kind  of  air,   too  much  fenfible  heat  is  conveyed  to 
the  blood.  In  like  manner  when  we  breathe  the  fleam  of 
water,  if  any  quantity  of  that  fleam  be  condenfed  in  the 
lungs,   the  whole  quantity  of  latent  heat  contained  in 
that  fleam  difcharges  itfelf  upon  the  lungs,  and  increafes 
the  fenfible   heat  of  the  body ;    and  from  this  we  may 
iearn  why  on  fome  occafions  our  fenfations  (hould  fo  ill 
correfpond  with  the  thermometer,  and  why  a  warm  air 
aim  oft  faturated  with  raoifture  mould   always   appear 
much  hotter  than  a  dry  one,  though  the  thermometer 
(land  at  an  equal  height  in  both.     Oxygen  air  feems 
to  convey  to    the   blood  a    much   larger   quantity   of 
what  we  have  called  vital  fpirit  ^  than  any  other  kind. 
Whether  this  vital  fpirit  be  the  fame  with  the  latent 
heat  of  the  blood,  we  know  not ;    but,  as  this  kind  of 
air  is  evidently  capable  of  fupplying  the  blood  both  with 
latent   and  fenfible  heat,   it  feems  moft  probable,  that, 
by  breathing  a  confiderable  proportion  of  it,  both  thefe 
kinds  of  heat,    as  well  as  the  vital  fpirit   itfelf,   will  be 
augmented.     In  this  cafe,    wherever  the  air  .naturally 
contains  a  larger  quantity  of  oxygen  than  ufual,   the 
blood  ought  to  be  more  fluid,  as  wellvas  warmer,  than 

ufual, 


THE    PLAGUE.  207 

ufual,  provided  there  be  no  evident  caufe  why  it  mould 
be  otherwife.  Accordingly  in  warm  climates  it  is  al- 
ways found  that  the  blood  is  thinner  and  more  fluid 
than  in  fuch  as  are  colder ;  but  at  the  fame  time  the 
temperature  of  the  body  is  colder  than  in  other  coun- 
tries. Zimmerman  tells  ns,  that,  "  at  Curaffau,  Euro- 
peans gradually  lofe  their  frefli  colour  and  vivacity  : 
their  natural  heat  even  becomes  three  or  four  degrees 
lefs  than  it  was  at  their  arrival."  The  reafon  of  this 
laft,  however,  is  evidently  the  exceffive  perfpiration, 
which  is  more  than  fufficient  to  carry  off  the  fuperabun- 
dant  quantity  of  fenfible  heat  thrown  into  the  body, 
either  by  the  rays  of  the  fun,  or  by  the  fuperior  quan- 
tity of  oxygen  naturally  exifting  in  the  atmofphere  ;  for  it 
is  now  found,  contrary  to  the  opinions  hitherto  received, 
that  in  the  warmer  climates  the  atmofphere  contains  a 
larger  proportion  of  oxygen  than  in  the  more  tem- 
perate.* 

From  this  difcovery  it  appears,  that,  whatever  maybe 
the  caufe  of  the  frequency  and  violence  of  epidemics  in 
warm  climates,  it  is  not  the  want  of  oxygen.  Nay,  we 
fhould  rather  be  tempted  to  think  that  they  were  produ- 
ced by  too  great  an  abundance  of  it  ;  and  this  the  more 
efpecially  when  we  know  that  animals  confined  in  oxygen 
air  are  fuppofed  to  die  of  a  burning  fever ;  and  it  is  like- 
wife  known  that  this  kind  of  air  is  prejudicial  to  con- 
fumptive  people,  and  even  brings  on  the  difeafe  on  thofe 

who 

*  That  this  is  the  cafe  with  the  atmofphere  at  Martinico  is  now  determined 
by  a  letter  from  Dr.  George  Davidion  to  Dr.  Mitchell  of  New- York,  inferted 
in  the  Medical  Repofitory,  vol.  ii,  p.  279.  With  equal  parts  of  nitrous  and 
atmofpheric  air,  there  was  an  abforption  of  67  parts  out  ofioo;  but  when 
two  parts  of  atmofpheric  air  were  ufed  to  one  of  nitrous,  the  abforption  was 
only  from  $z  to  58  parts  ;  with  a  mixture  of  iron  filings  and  fulphur,  upwards 
of  four  tenths  of  the  air  were  ablbrbed.  Thefe  experiments  were  attefted  by* 
a  number  of  medical  gentlemen  who  were  prefent.  In  a  letter  fubjoined 
from  Dr.  Chifholm,  he  lays,  that,  having  made  a  trial  with  iron  tilings  and 
fulphur,  the  abforption  was  forty  parts  ot  an  hundred,  or  exactly  tour  tenths* 
with  the  eudiometer  fifty-fix.  •«  It  appears  to  rne  (fays  Dr.  Chilholm)  to  be 
««  a  singular  circumftance,  that,  although  the  ground  on  which  the  Ordnance 
•*  Hofpital  ftands  is  a  perfect  morals,  partially  drained,  yet  a  refult  almoft 
««  exadily  litnilar  to  that  given  by  the  experiments  made  with  the  eudiometer 
*«  at  my  houie,  fhould  take  place,  with  the  fame  inftrument  and  in  circum- 
"  ftances  very  different.  The  proportion  at  the  Ordnance  Hofpital,  I 
««  think,  has  been  58  out  of  IQO,  and  at  your  houfe,  a  fituation  leis  fwampy, 
«'  and  nearer  the  fea,  it  has  been  67.  An  explanation  of  fo  fingular  a  re(ult> 
«*  in  fituations  ib  different,  is  perhaps  more  to  be  wifhed  than  expe&ed." 


208  A    TREATISE    ON 

who  had  it  not  before.  From  the  experiments  mention- 
ed in  the  note,  it  feems  probable  that  there  are  but  few 
even  of  fwampy  places  in  hot  climates,  where  oxygen 
does  not  predominate;  and  in  thefe  the  heat  thrown  in- 
to the  bloold  muft  ftill  be  augmented  by  that  produced 
from  the  quantity  of  vapour  decompofed  or  condenfed 
in  the  lungs,  which,  as  the  condenfation  depends  upon 
unknown  circumftances,  can  never  be  forefeen,  or  ever 
prevented,  but  by  a  removal  from  the  place. 

With  regard  to  other  kinds  of  air,  fuch  as  inflamma- 
ble, phlogifticated  air,  &c.  experiments  are  yet  wanting 
to  determine  their  effects  upon  people  who  breathe  them 
habitually.  The  proportion  in  which  they  occafionall  y 
exift  in  the  atrnofphere  on  particular  occafions  has  not 
been  afcertained,  and  from  the  experiment  made  by  Dr. 
Prieftley  with  ofFenfive  air  taken  from  a  manufactory, 
as  well- as  from  Dr.  Chifholm  juft  mentioned,  the  proba- 
bility is,  that,  even  in  the  moft  ofFenfive  places,  the  pro- 
portion of  azote  is  by  no  means  fo  great  to  the  oxygen 
that  we  could  fuppofe  the  excefs  capable  of  producing  a 
diforder  of  any  confequence,  much  lefs  a  violent  epide- 
mic. Fixed  air  is  always  produced  in  the  putrefactive 
procefs,  and  from  its  quality  above  mentioned  of  rarefy- 
ing and  heating  the  blood,  might  reafonably  be  fuppofed 
to  have  fome  (hare  in  producing  epidemics,  were  it  not 
that  this  kind  of  air  is  fo  readily  abforbed  by  water,  as 
well  as  a  number  of  other  fubftances,  that,  except  at  the 
very  moment  of  emiffion,  we  can  fcarce  fuppofe  it  to 
have  any  confiderable  effect. 

Mr.  Watt  in  a  letter  to  Dr.  Beddoes  gives  an  account 
of  a  kind  of  air,  feemingly  more  noxious  than  any  yet 
difcovered,  which  he  produced  by  diftillation  from  flefb 
and  from  wool.  The  effects  upon  himfelf  were  fo  dif- 
agreeable  that  he  determined  to  make  no  more  fuch  ex- 
periments, left  he  mould  to  his  own  hurt  difcover  a 
mode  of  producing  fome  grievous  difeafe.  But  we  can- 
not, from  an  artificial  air  of  this  kind,  argue  to  a  natural 
one ;  as  the  one  produced  by  Mr.  Watt  was  totally  dif- 
ferent from  any  fpecies  of  air  naturally  known.  All  that 
we  can  fay  is,  that,  as  far  as  we  can  trace  the  connexion 

between 


THE   PLAGUE.  269 

between  our  bodies  and  the  different  kinds  of  air  which 
may  be  breathed,  the  latter  ad  chiefly  by  the  heat  they 
contain,  and  which  they  impart  to  the  body  in  various 
proportions ;  by  which  means  the  latent  or  fenfible  heat 
of  the  blood,  and  confequently  of  the  whole  body,  may 
be  occaiionally  augmented  or  dirtliniflled.  Thus  the 
body  may  be  considerably  altered  in  its  cdnftitution, 
and  rendered  more  liable  to  difeafes  than  it  was  before  $ 
but  (till  it  is  found  that  difeafes  continue  to  appear  at 
uncertain  intervals,  though  all  the  catafes  we  are  able  to 
difcover*  or  at  lead  all  that  are  conftantly  evident  to  our 
fenfes,  continue  to  operate  without  intefmiffion.  Though 
the  obvious  qualities  of  air  and  climate  therefore  may 
fredlfpofe  to  an  epidemic,  we  cannot  affirm  any  thing 
farther  :  the  direct  cdufe  is  always  different*  and  hath 
hitherto  fo  much  eluded  our  refearches,  that  we  can  have 
little  hope  of  difcovering  it,  except  by  reaforiing  from 
facts  lefs  obfcure, 

8.  In  all  the  operations  of  nature  which  we  have  ac- 
cefs  to  inveftigate,  the  action  of  electricity  is  fo  much 
Concerned,  that  we  can  fcarce  fuppofe  it  to  be  want- 
ing in  any  of  them.  That  it  is  concerned  in  preferv- 
ing  the  health  of  the  human  body  is  likewife  certain, 
if  it  be  the  fluid  which  acts  in  the  nerves,  as  rnoft  pro- 
bably it  is.  But  whatever  preferves  health  will  alfo 
bring  on  difeafe,  if  it  be  applied  to  that  piirpofe  ;  and 
we  have  already  feen  that  this  fluid  is  capable  of  bring- 
ing on  the  moft  dreadful  fymptoms,  viz.  mortification 
in  its  higheft  ftage,  fever,  convulfions,  bilious  difcharges, 
lethargy,  &c.  If  it  be  capable  of  producing  all  thefe, 
can  we  fay  that  it  is  not  capable  of  producing  thofe  of 
an  inferior  kind,  or  of  varying  difeafes  and  fymptoms 
without  end,  according  to  the  immenfe  diverfity  of  its 
action  ?  It  may  be  laid  that  this  difeafe  was  occa- 
fioned  by  a  violent  flroke  of  electricity,  fimilar  to  light- 
ning 5  but  how  many  people  have  declared,  that,  in  the 
beginning  of  fonie  violent  epidemics,  they  have  felt  a 
fudden  ftroke  at  the  time  of  feizure  !  Dr.  Hodges 
mentions  this  in  the  plague  of  1665  at  London,  but 
treats  the  accounts  as  effects  of  a  diftempered  imagina- 

E  e  tion. 


210  A   TREATISE    ON 

lion,  Procopius  relates  the  fame  of  the  plague  in  his 
time,  viz.  that  many  of  the  difeafed  felt  a  uroke.  It 
is  true  that  they  faid  fuch  ftrokes  were  given  by  fpi- 
rits  in  human  fhape,  in  which  we  know  they  mud  have 
been  deceived  -y  but,  though  they  were  miftaken  in 
fuppofing  that  they  had  been  ftruck  by  a  fpirrt,  it  does 
not  from  thence  follow  that  they  felt  no  ftroke  at  all. 
The  people  mentioned  by  Dr.  Hodges  did  not  fay  that 
they  were  ftruck  by  a  fpirif,  yet  he  treats  their  accounts 
with  as  great  contempt  as  though  they  had.  Where 
people  have  no  intereft  in  deceiving,  we  ought  certainly 
to  look  with  a  favourable  eye  upon  their  teftimony  -y  for, 
even  although  fome  part  of  it  fhould  be  incredible,  we 
have  ftill  reafon  to  believe  that  there  is  fome  foundation 
'for  what  they  fay.  Thus,  the  poor  failor,  fo  much  fright- 
ened at  the  fight  of  a  large  bat  in  New  Holland,  was 
certainly  miftaken  in  faying  that  he  had  feen  the  devil ; 
he  was  even  miftaken  in  faying  that  he  had  horns  ;*  but 
from  all  this  it  would  have  been  doing  him  great  injuftice 
to  fay  that  he  had  feen  nothing.  In  like  manner,  when 
numbers  of  people  in  Procopius's  time  faid  that  they 
were  ftruck  by  fpirits,  when  we  find  others  in  Dr.  Hod- 
gee's  time  faying  that  they  were  ftruck  by  fome  invifible 
agent,  when  we  know  that  electricity  can  ftrike  in  an 
i-nvifible  manner,  it  certainly  is  more  reafonable  to  con- 
clude that  violent  difeafes  fometimes  do  begin  by  an  elec- 
tric ftroke,  than  that  all  who  faid  they  were  ftruck  in 
this  manner  were  madmen  or  liars. 

It  may  now  again  be  afked,  If  the  plagne,  or  violent 
epidemics,  be  produced  by  ele&ric  ftrokes,  why  are  they 
not  much  more  frequently  felt,  or  by  what  are  thofe 
milder  difeafes  produced  which  are  not  accompanied  by 
any  fenfible  ftroke  ?  Here  we  can  be  at  no  lofs  to  fay, 
that  whatever  produces  the  higheft  difeafe,  may  alfo  pro- 
duce the  loweft.  But,  befides  this  argument,  we  have 
politive  evidence  that  commotions  in  the  electric  fluid 

will 

*  In  the  account  of  this  failor's  fpeecfc  a  moft  eflential  part  of  tlie  devil's 
chara6ler  was  omitted.  Th«  fpeech,  according  to  Capt.  Cook,  was,  that  the 
devil ««  was  about  the  fize  of  a  one  gallon  keg,  and  very  like  it.  He  had  horns 
••and  wings  ;  and  he  was  fo  near,  that,  it  I  had  ilOi  b?en  <*fear*dt  I  might 
««  have  touched  him."  (Sec  p,  1051  n.) 


THE   PLAGUE.  211 

not  only  produce  ficknefs,  but  very  extraordinary 
and  feemingly  miraculous  effects  upon  inanimate  bodies. 
It  has  frequently  been  remarked  that  people  are  fick 
during  the  time  of  earthquakes,  when  the  electric  mat- 
ter is  in  violent  agitation.  This  has  been  accounted 
for  from  the  motion  of  the  earth,  as  the  motion  of  a 
iliip  produces  fea-ficknefs.  But  Dr.  Hillary  mentions 
a  flight  earthquake  in  Barbadoes  where  people  were  af- 
fe&ed  with  ficknefs  and  vomiting  for  fome  hours  after 
the  phenomenon  had  ceafed  altogether;  which  undoubt- 
edly mows,  that  a  certain  ftate  of  this  fluid  will  diforder 
the  human  body,  independent  of  every  other  circurn- 
flance,  either  of  the  heat  or  cold  of  the  atmofphere,  or 
the  oxygen,  hydrogen  or  azote  contained  in  it.  Again, 
we  find  that  a  certain  ftate  of  the  electric  matter  is  not 
only  capable  of  producing  very  extraordinary  effects  by 
itfelf,  but  alfo  of  communicating  a  power  to  the  human 
body  to  do  the  fame.  A  good  number  of  years  ago,  a 
powder-mill  near  London  was  blown  up.  The  explo- 
fion,  as  might  be  expe&ed,  was  violent  and  tremen- 
dous ;  but  the  mod  remarkable  circumftance  was,  that 
the  electric  matter,  for  a  great  way  round,  was  thrown 
into  unufual,  though  inviiible,  commotions,  which  di£- 
covered  themfelves  by  the  rattling  and  breaking  of  chi- 
na difhes  though  fitting  apparently  undifturbed  upon 
their  flielves.  This  phenomenon  did  not  fuddenly  ceafe, 
and,  during  the  time  of  it,  fome  people  appeared  to  be 
infected  by  an  electric  contagion ;  the  power  of  breaking 
china  feemed  to  refide  in  their  bodies,  fo  that  if  they  ap- 
proached or  touched  this  kind  of  ware,  it  would  inftantly 
fly  to  pieces.  Accounts  of  this  extraordinary  circum- 
ftance were  publifhed  in  many  of  the  periodical  works 
of  the  time,  particularly  in  Dodfley's  Annual  Regifter ; 
and  the  fact  feems  to  be  eftablifhed  beyond  controverfy. 
It  proves  that  what  has  been  advanced  by  Dr.  Prieftley 
concerning  electrical  operations,  on  a  fmall  fcale,  holds 
good  alfo  on  a  large  one,  viz.  that  the  fluid,  when  once 
fet  in  motion,  is  not  eafily  quieted.  It  eftablifhes  the 
fact,  alfo,  that  by  great  explofions  of  gun-powder  the 
£ledric  matter  is  violently  agitated  ;  and  the  confe- 

quence 


A    TREATISE    ON 

quence  of  thefe  agitations  we  cannot  know.  It  may  be 
faid,  indeed,  that  in  the  operations  of  nature  the  ele&ric 
matter  is  often  violently  moved  without  any  ficknefs  tak- 
ing place  ;  neither  in  faft  did  any  enfue  at  the  time  the 
powder-mill  in  queftion  was  blown  up.  But  it  mud  be 
remembered,  that,  in  the  ordinary  courfe  of  nature,  if  the 
eleftric  matter  is  moved,  a  receptacle  is  alfo  provided 
for  it.  In  a  thunder-ftorm,  where  immenfe  difcharges 
of  ele&ricity  are  made  from  one  cloud,  there  is  another 
cloud  of  an  ele&ricity  oppofite  to  the  former  ready  to 
receive  them,  or  if  not,  the  earth  itfelf  is  frequently  ftruck« 
In  eruptions  of  volcanoes,  the  fmoke  receives  the  ele<5tri- 
city  difcharged,  and  becomes  charged  with  lightning  of 
a  more  dangerous  kind  than  that  of  ordinary  thunder- 
ftorms  j  and  Sir  William  Hamilton  relates,  that  in  the 
great  eruption  of  Vefuvius,  in  1794,  lightning  of  this 
kind  proceeded  from  the  fmoke  for  no  lefs  a  fpace  than 
f event  ten  days.  But  in  artificial  commotions  of  this  flu- 
id, where  nattjre  has  not  provided  any  receptacle,  the 
phenomena  mud  be  qqite  different  ;  and  though  we 
may  with  fafety  to  ourfelves  interfere  with  the  operations 
of  fire  and  electricity  to  a  certain  degree,  yet  we  may  at 
3aft  roufe  thefe  terrible  elements  into  fuch  aftion  as  will 
prove  fatal  to  great  numbers.  Hence  poffibly  may  arife 
in  part  fome  of  thofe  fickneiTes  which  take  place  after 
battles,  in  violent  lieges,  Sec.  An  inftance  of  this  is 
faicl  to  have  happened  at  Valenciennes,  when  laft  be- 
fieged  by  the  Duke  of  York.  A  difeafe  prevailed  chief- 
ly among  women,  children,  and  perfons  of  a  weak  con- 
ftitution  ;  great  numbers  of  whom  died  fo  fuddenly  that 
it  was  at  firft  thought  to  be  a  plague,  until  it  was  found 
not  to  be  infedious.  The  blood  was  found  greatly  difr 
folved,  and  the  phyficians  afcribed  it  to  the  monftrous 
bombardment  and  cannonading  which  took  place  during 
the  fiege.  Such  was  the  account  published  in  fome  of 
the  newfpapers  of  the  time,  and  from  the  fubfequent 
confideration.s  it  will  not  feem  improbable  that  fuch 
things  may  take  place. 

From  the  experiments  of  Mr.  Bennet  (an  Englilli  gen- 
tleman who  has  made  feveral  difcoveries  in  elediicity) 

it 


r  THE    PLAGUE.  213 

it  appears,  that  we  can  neither  brufh  a  piece  of  chalk, 
open  or  (hut  a  book,  or  do  feveral  of  the  mod  trifling 
actions,  without  agitating  this  fubtile  fluid  in  a  percepti- 
ble manner.  It  is  well  known  that  in  fome  cafes  we 
cannot  flroke  a  cat's  back  without  making  the  electric 
matter  vifible,  and  in  fome  pofitions,  by  putting  our 
fingers  near  the  ears  of  the  animal,  very  pungent  fparks 
will  be  received.  If  then  we  can  neither  open  or  (hut  a 
book,  if  we  cannot  ftroke  a  cat's  back,  or  approach  a 
finger  to  her  ear,  without  agitating  the  eleftric  fluid,  is 
it  reafonably  to  think  we  could  burn  a  book,  or  kill  a 
cat,  without  doing  the  fame  ?  Certainly  it  is  not.  ^  If 
we  cannot  burn  a  book  or  kill  a  cat  without  affefting 
this  fluid,  it  cannot  be  fuppofed  that  we  can  burn  a 
houfe  or  kill  a  man  without  producing  a  dill  greater 
commotion  j  and  in  proportion  to  the  extent  of  our  de- 
vaftations,  and  the  multitude  of  our  maflTacres,  the  5n- 
vifible  agitation  of  this  element  muft  become  flill  greater 
and  greater.  In  all  thefe  tranfaftions  it  muft  be  rememr 
bered  that  the  fluid  is  forced  out  of  its  natural  mode  of 
aftion  $  for  eleftric  matter  is  made  for  the  prefervation,  not 
the  deftruftion,  of  life  :  but  if,  by  long  continued  and  ex- 
tenfive  application  of  its  power  to  a  contrary  purpofe,  we 
in  fome  meafure  pervert  its  a<5tion,  no  wonder  that  we 
then  feel  the  confequences  of  our  own  proceedings  by  its 
partly  turning  its  power  againft  the  human  race  alto- 
gether. 

Again,  the  human  body  is  not  made  for  the  habitation 
of  an  infernal  fpirit,  but  for  one  of  a  quite  different 
character,  The  boifterous  paflions  of  fury,  difcord  and 
hatred  ought  never  to  difturb  the  mind,  which  is  made 
for  the  habitation  ,of  endlefs  peace  and  joy.  The  tumul- 
tuous paffions  are  enemies  to  health  -,  and  this  is  fo  well 
known  to  phyficians  that  they  are  very  careful  to  prevent 
their  patients  from  being  any  way  ruffled  or  difturbed  by 
violent  paffions.  It  is  true  thefe  paffions  aft  upon  the 
rational  foul,  which  we  may  fuppofe  to  be  diftinft  frorn 
that  merely  animal  fpirit,  probably  no  other  than  the 
eleftric  fluid,  which  runs  along  the  nerves ;  but  experi- 
ence fhows  that  each  of  thefe  can  aft  upon  the  other ;  a 

diforder 


2i4  A    TREATISE    ON 

diforderin  the  body,  particularly  in  the  nervous  fyftem, 
will  fometimes  difturb  the  rational  foul  in  fuch  a  man- 
ner as  almoft  entirely  to  deprive  it  of  all  its  faculties ; 
while  on  the  other  hand  a  violent  commotion  in  the 
rational  foul  may  at  once  extinguifli  all  the  powers  of 
life,  as  has  already  been  mown  from  Zimmerman.  Now, 
let  any  one  confider  what  muft  be  the  fenfations  of  thofe 
who  engage  in  war.  Whatever  pity  or  humanity  may 
be  pretended,  it  is  evident  that  in  the  day  of  battle  all 
thefe  fenfations  muft  give  way  to  horror  and  fury  on  the 
part  of  the  conquerors,  and  terror  and  difmay  on  that 
of  the  vanquifhed.  That  thefe  paffions  never  do  entirely 
fubfide,  is  evident  from  the  treatment  of  conquered 
countries  and  conquered  people.  When  Jenghiz  Khan 
beheaded  his  prifoners  by  hundreds  of  thoufands,  when 
Tamerlane  pounded  them  in  mortars,  when  KhouliKhan 
caufed  thofe  who  offended  him  to  be  carried  from  place  to 
place,  and  a  piece  of  flefh  to  be  cut  from  their  bodies  at 
each  ftage,  what  muft  have  been  the  fenfations  of  thefe 
mifcreants,  and  thofe  whom  they  employed  in  fuch  horrid 
fcenes  ?  On  the  other  hand,  what  muft  be  the  fenfations 
of  thofe  who  fee  their  deareft  relations  torn  from  them 
and  Slaughtered  or  treated  even  worfe  than  if  they  were  ; 
themfelves  driven  from  their  peaceable  abodes  to  wander 
like  beafts,  while  their  cruel  enemies  exult  in  the  mife- 
ries  they  have  brought  upon  them,  and  glory  in  doing 
all  the  mifchief  they  can,  and  fpreading  devaluation  as 
wide  as  poffible  ?  Thus,  every  paflion,  inimical  to  health, 
muft,  on  both  fides,  be  carried  to  its  utmoft  height ;  and 
if  thefe  horrid  fcenes  overfpread  a  great  part  of  the  earth, 
for  hundreds  of  years  together,  is  it  any  wonder  that 
plagues  mould  enfue  ?  If  man,  forgetting  the  dignity  of 
his  nature,  converts  the  habitation  affigned  him  by  his 
Maker  into  a  kind  of  hell,  and  himfelfinto  a  devil,  can 
we  wonder  that,  in  fuch  circumftances,  the  fpirit  of  life, 
originally  appointed  for  his  ufe,  fhould  become  to  fuch  a 
being  the  fpirit  of  death  ?  Dr.  Mofeley  feems  to  fpeak 
Ilightly  of  Helmont  for  affigning  moral  caufes  to  fever  j 
hut  if  we  confider  the  matter  attentively  it  will  certainly 
fee  found  that  the  moral  conduft  of  the  human  race  in 

genera} 


THE    PLAGUE.  215 

general  has  more  connexion  with  the  difeafes  which  be- 
fal  them,  than  we  are  perhaps  willing  to  believe. 

Mod  authors  fpeak  of  fome  hidden,  unknown  and 
unfearchable  power  in  the  atmofphere  as  the  occafion 
of  plagues  and  other  epidemics  $  and,  from  what  has 
been  already  laid  down,  it  feems  by  no  means  improba- 
ble that  this  hidden  power  relides  in  the  electric  part  of 
it.  But  we  know  that  electricity  proceeds  from  the 
earth,  as  well  as  from  the  air;  fo  that  in  fome  countries 
the  evaporation  of  eleftric  matter  from  the  earth  may 
affeft  the  health  of  the  inhabitants,  as  well  as  the  con- 
ftitution  of  the  atmofphere.  Hence  fome  fpots  may  be 
naturally  unhealthy,  and  incurably  fo,  independent  of 
either  the  perceptible  or  imperceptible  properties  of  the 
air  ;  their  healthinefs  may  occafionally  increafe  or  de- 
creafe  by  means  entirely  beyond  the  reach  of  our  invef- 
tigation.  Here  then  our  inquiries  muft  flop.  We  may 
indeed  make  a  general  conjecture  that  fuch  differences 
are  produced  by  the  action  of  the  eledric  matter ;  but, 
ualefs  this  adtion  be  pointed  out,  and  fome  connexion 
traced  between  the  iituation  of  the  country  and  a  parti- 
cular mode  of  a&ion  of  the  fluid,  we  may  as  well  own 
our  ignorance  at  once. 

9.  From  all  that  has  been  faid,  then,  we  may  con- 
clude, that  none  of  the  obvious  properties  of  the  atmo- 
fphere, or  of  any  conftituent  part  of  it,  or  of  any  varia- 
tion in  the  proportion  of  its  ingredients,  can  be  account- 
ed the  caufe  of  epidemic  difeafes ;  that  the  hidden  con- 
ftitution  of  the  atmofphere  may  with  probability  be 
attributed  to  the  agency  of  the  eledqc  fluid,  and  that 
by  the  action  of  this  fecret  caufe,  along  with  the  other 
more  obvious  properties  of  the  air,  fuch  as  heat  or  cold, 
moifture  or  drynefs,  &c.  the  human  body  may  be  fo 
predifpofed  to  difeafes,  that  they  will  readily  break  forth  ; 
and  that  the  condudt  of  mankind  themfelves  may 
greatly  contribute  to  this  predifpofition  ;  the  queftion 
then  is,  fuppoling  every  thing  to  be  thus  laid,  like  a 
train  of  gun-powder,  what  is  the  fpark  which  firft  fets  it 
on  fire.  Does  the  difeafe  arife  fpontaneoufly  in  the  firft 
perfon  affefted  by  it,  or  does  it  come  from  without  ? 

In 


216  A    TREATISE    ON 

In  anfvver  to  this  we  muft  in  the  firft  place  obferve, 
that  the  accounts  of  all  plagues  mentioned   in  profane 
hiftory  trace  their  progrefs  from  one  place  to  another ; 
whence  the  probability  is,  that  at  its  origin  the  difeafe  was 
confined  to  a  few,  perhaps  to  a  fingleperfon.  In  very  few 
cafes,  however,  has  it  been  poffible  to  trace  it   to  an  in- 
dividual ;  and^  even  when  this  has  been  done,  the  un- 
fortunate individual  is  always  faid  to  come  from  fome 
other  place.     The  inftance  quoted  from  Dr.  Moore  is 
perhaps  the   only  one  upon  record    where  the  plague 
arofe  fpontaneoufly  in  any  perfon  feparated  from   foci- 
ety ;  and  from  a  fingle  inftance  little  can  be  inferred. 
In  thofe  terrible  examples  we  have  given  of  people  be- 
ing burned  to  death  without  any  accident  from  terref- 
trial  fuel,  the  agent  feems  almoft  certainly  to  have  been 
electricity.     In  the  plague  of  Procopius,  faid  not  to  have 
been  infectious,  the  ftrokes  complained  of  by  many  patients 
feem  to  indicate  an  action  of  the  fame  fluid.    The  fame 
in  the  plague  at  London,  which  was  infectious,   and 
likewife  of  others.     But,  in  cafes  of  plagues  which  are 
not  infectious^  another  queftion  arifes- — By  what  means 
do  fuch  difeafes  fpread  from  place  to  place  ?  for  even 
this    dreadful    peftilence   of   Procopius  did  not  over- 
fpread  the  earth  at  once,  but  is  faid  to  have  begun  at 
Pelufium  in  Egypt.     To  this  no  anfwer  can  be  giverL 
To  fuppofe  an  omniprefent  contagion  in  theatmofphere, 
proceeding  either  from    contagion  or  any  thing  elfe, 
cannot   be  admitted  ;    for  upon    this   fuppofition   the 
whole  world  muft  have  been  infected  at  once.       The 
caufe,  whatever  it  was,  plainly  moved  from  one  place  to 
another,  or  was  fucceflively  generated  in  different  places. 
Recourfe  may  be  had  to  the  precipitation  of  the  contagi- 
ous matter  of  former  plagues  from  the  atmofphere  -,  but 
to  account  for  this  in  fucceflion  will  be  found  very  dif- 
ficult ;  and  the  fame  difficulty  will  attend  every   other 
folution  which  may  be  attempted.    Mr.  Gibbon  indeed 
cenfures  Procopius  for  fuppofing  it  not  to  have  been  in- 
fectious ;    and  perhaps  the  fpreading  of  the  difeafe  by 
infection  is  the  only  way  by  which  we  can  account,  in 
a  fatisfadory  manner,  for  the  way  in  which  it  diffufed 

itfeif 


THE    PLAGUE.  217 

itfelfover  the  world,  which  was,  by  firft  infecting  the 
maritime  places,  and  afterwards  thofe  which  were  more 
inland  $  always  vifiting  the  fecond  year  thofe  whom  it 
had  fpared  the  firft. 

10.  Laftly,  to  form  fome  idea  of  the  nature  of  conta- 
gion, or  infection,  as  it  is  more  properly  called,  we  mud 
confider,  that  as  the  ethereal  fluid,  acting  as  heat,  per- 
vades the  human  body,  fo  doth  it  likewife  under  that 
particular  modification  which  we  call  electricity.  Some 
kinds  of  air,  indeed  moft  of  thofe  with  which  we  are  ac- 
quainted, feem  to  act  by  augmenting  or  diminifhing  the 
latent  or  the  fenfible  heat  of  the  body.  Such,  when  taken 
in  moderate  quantity,  may  produce  flight  difeafes,  as 
head-ach,  &c.  and,  when  taken  very  largely,  may  even 
put  an  end  to  life  at  once,  either  by  rarefaction  of  the 
blood  and  rupture  of  the  fmall  veflels,  as  is  the  cafe  with 
fixed  air,  or  by  opprefling  the  lungs  entirely  with  their 
bafis,  which  cannot  be  thrown  out  by  the  breath  as  in  or-, 
dinary  refpiration.  Others  may  affect  the  electricity  of 
it,  or  what  in  this  treatife  has  been  called  the  vital  fpi- 
rif,  as  well  as  the  latent  or  fenlible  heat.  The  confe- 
quence  of  this  will  be  difeafes  of  a  more  ferious  nature  ; 
for  upon  this  principle  in  all  probability  depend  not  on- 
ly the  fecretion  and  proper  regulation  of  the  nervous  flu- 
id, but  what  has  been  called  the  crajts,  or  proper  coniif- 
tence  of  the  blood  and  other  fluids.  Hence  it  is  pofli- 
ble  that  fuch  an  inftantaneous  (hock  may  be  given  to 
the  body,  as  will  not  only  injure  the  organization  in  an 
irreparable  manner,  but  may  be  felt  throughout  the 
whole  body  like  an  electric  flroke,  even  though  there  be 
no  vifible  fire,  or  fenfation  of  burning,  as  in  the  cafe  of 
the  Italian  prieft  and  others,  who  perifhed  in  fuch  a  mi- 
ferabie  manner. 

Formerly  all  acute  difeafes  were  fuppofed  to  depend 
on  morbific  matter  taken  into  the  body,  and  abforbed 
by  the  blood  :  the  cure  was  thought  to  be  accomplifhed 
by  the  expulfion  of  this  morbific  matter  from  the  body 
by  fweat,  or  fome  of  the  other  natural  evacuations. 
The  doctrine  was  attended  by  many  difficulties,  and  in 
many  cafes  did  not  admit  of  a  fatisfactory  explanation. 

F  f  It 


218  A    TREATISE    ON 

It  was  therefore  laid  afide,  and  the  debility  or  excite- 
ment of  the  nervous  fyftem  arofe  in  its  place.  But  this 
new  fyftem  admitting  of  mlajmata  and  contagion,  it  was 
plain  that  morbific  matter  flill  kept  its  ground.  With 
a  view,  it  would  feem,  to  render  the  nervous  theory  more 
complete,  it  has  been  found  neceflary  to  deny  the  doc- 
trine of  contagion  and  infection  entirely.  This  has  been 
done,  wherever  there  was  a  poffibility  ;  but  the  pheno- 
mena of  the  fmall-pox  and  mealies,  as  well  as  thofe  arif- 
ing  from  poifons,  ftill  militated  ftrongly  in  favour  of 
morbific  matter.  To  avoid  the  force  of  arguments 
drawn  from  thefe  fources,  the  doctrine  of  abforption  was 
denied,  and  contagions  of  all  kinds  were  faid  to  act  im- 
mediately upon  the  nervous  fyftem  without  affecting  the 
blood  or  other  fluids.  At  laft  the  matter  feemed  to  be 
decided  by  the  experiments  of  the  Abbe  Fontana  on 
poifons.  He  found  that  fome  proved  fatal  by  beingf 
mixed  with  the  blood,  others  by  being  applied  to  the 
nerves,  and  others  by  being  taken  into  the  ftomach. 
Even  this  did  not  give  fatisfaction.  It  was  contended 
that  the  effects  of  poifonous  bites  were  too  quick  to  be 
accounted  fo/  on  the  principle  of  abforption  ;  that,  after 
the  moft  violent  fymptoms  had  commenced,  they  might 
be  removed  by  cutting  out  the  part  affected  ;  and  con- 
fequently  that,  inftead  of  any  abforption  by  the  blood,  we 
were  only  to  believe  that  the  nervous  fyftem  was  irritated. 

"  Poifons,  (fays  Dr.  Girtanner)  remedies,  and,  in  ge- 
<c  neral,  all  furrounding  bodies,  acting  only  on  the  irri- 
"  table  fibre,  it  follows  that  they  act  upon  the  fyftem  in 
44  a  fimilar  manner,  and  that  every  fubftance  capable  of 
"  producing  the  grcateft  pomble  effect  upon  the  fibre, 
"  that  is  to  fay,  every  fubftance  capable  of  exhaufting  all 
cc  the  irritability  both  of  the  fibre  itfelf  and  of  the  fyftem, 
"in  an  inftant,  asfoj:  inftance,  laurel  water,  or  white  ar- 

fenic,  is  alfo  capable  of  producing  all  the  inferior  de- 
<c  grees  of  action,  either  by  acting  on  a  fibre  lefs  irritable, 
<c  or  by  acting  upon  the  fame  fibre,  but  in  a  lets  quanti- 
4C  ty.  Laurel  water,  opium,  white  arfenic,  ammoniac, 
"  are  -of  courfe  both  medicines  and  poifons  capable 
"  of  healing  as  w,ell  as  of  producing,  all  maladies  what/a- 


THE  PLAGUE,  21$ 

"  ever,  without  exception*  And  this  is  confirmed  by  a 
"  number  of  experiments  which  I  have  made  upon  dif- 
"  ferent  animals.  Thir/rw/7;  feems  to  me  of  the  utmofl 
"  importance-,  and  the  Abbe  Fontana,  who  made  more 
"  than  fix  hundred  experiments  to  prove  that  ammoniac 
<c  is  no  remedy  againft  the  bite  of  a  viper,  would  have 
"  faved  himfelf  the  trouble,  had  he  known  it.  If,  infteaci 
"  of  applying  the  venom  of  the  viper  to  fomany  animals, 
"  and  afterwards  applying  ammoniac  to  the  wound,  he 
"  had  made  a  fingle  comparative  experiment,  and  appli- 
<c  ed  ammoniac  to  a  wound  made  by  a  lancet  that  was 
"  not  poifoned,  he  would  have  found  that  ammoniac 
"  itfelf,  applied  in  this  manner,  would  have  produced  a 
"  difeafe  exactly  analogous  to  that  caufed  by  the  venom 
"  of"  the  viper  ;  and,  confequently,  fo  far  from  removing 
"  the  malady,  mull  necefikrily  increafe  it,  by  exhaufting 
"  the  irritability  of  the  fibre  in  a  much  lefs  time  than 
"  the  venom  of  the  viper  by  itfelf  was  capable  of  doing. 
<c  Mr.  Fontana  has  made  more  than  fix  thoufand  ex- 
t£  periments  upon  the  poifon  of  the  viper;  he  employed 
"  more  than  three  thoufand  vipers,  and  caufed  to  be  bit 
"  more  than  four  thoufand  animals ;  and  the  conclufion 
a  he  drew  after  this  truly  enormous  number  of  obferva- 
"  tions  was,  that  the  poifon  of  the  viper  kills  all  animals, 
"  and  produces  the  difeafe  by  its  action  on  the  blood. 
"  But  why  did  Mr.  Fontana  neglect  to  make  the  de- 
"  cilive  experiment,  the  experimentwn  cruets  of  Bacon  ? 
'4  It  is  well  known  that  frogs,  and  many  animals  with 
"  cold  blood,  live  a  long  time  without  thq  heart,  and 
"  entirely  deprived  of  blood.  If  therefore  the  poifon  of 
"  the  viper  kills  animals  by  its  action  on  the  blood,  it 
i(  will  not  deftroy  frogs  without  blood.  But  experiment 
"  contradicts  this  reasoning.  The  poifon  of  the  viper 
"  will  kill  frogs  without  blood  in  as  fhort  a  time  as  it 

«  kills 

*  This  is  an  afiertion  fo  extravagant*  that  is  diffisult  to  imagine  what 
could  induce  any  one  to  make  it.  Did  our  author  ever  hear  that  laurel  water* 
Sec.  produced  the  venereal  difeafe,  the  plague*  yellow  fever,  gout,  (lone,  fmall- 
pox,  &c.  &c.  or  to  what  patients  and  in  what  difeafes  did  he  ever  adminifter 
this  remedy  with  fuccefs  ?  I  mean  not  to  deny  that  thcfe  fu^lances  will  cure 
fame  difeafes  as  well  as  produce  others ;  but  fuch  au  unqualified  expreffion 
that  they  can  not  only  produce  but  cure  ail  difeafes  without  exception,  never 
can  be  admitted. 


220  A    TREATISE    ON 

"  kills  thofe  animals  who  have  not  loft  their  blood.  It 
"  is  not  therefore  by  its  aclion  upon  the  blood  that  the 
"  venom  of  the  viper  deftroys  animals ;  and  thus  does  it 
"  happen  that  a  fingle  experiment  frequently  overturns 
*c  all  tb&t  fix  thoufand  other  experiments  have  apparently 
"  eftablifhed.  Ac-cording  to  my  experiments,  poifons 
"  operate  upon  the  blood  juft  as  they  do  upon  the  muf- 
<c  cular  fibre,  by  depriving  it  of  its  principle  of  irritability, 
"  or  of  its  oxygen.  After  having  made  this  obfervation 
"  upon  the  experiments  of  Mr.  Fonrana,  I  muft  do  him 
"  the  juftice  to  add,  that  I  have  found  all  his  experi- 
c<  ments  very  accurate,  and  that  in  all  thofe  which  I  have 
"  repeated,  the  refult  has  been  exactly  conformable  to 
"  the  account  given  by  him  ;  it  is  in  his  concluiion  only 
<{  that  he  appears  to  be  deceived." 

On  this  I  muft  in  the  firft  place  obferve,  that  fince 
philojophers  and  truth  feem  to  be  fo  far  diftant  from  each 
other  that  even  Jix  thoufand  experiments  cannot  bring 
them  together,  it  were  greatly  to  be  wifhed  that  in  their 
refearches  they  would  pay  a  little  more  regard  to  huma- 
nity. If  the  Author  of  Nature  has  fet  man  at  the  head 
of  the  creation,  if  inferior  animals  muft  patiently  re- 
lign  their  lives  to  preferve  ours,  are  we  therefore  autho- 
riled  to  torment  and  put  them  to  death  by  thoufands 
for  every  idle  whim  that  comes  into  our  heads  ?  After 
Spallanzani,  Fontana,  Girtanner  and  a  multitude  of  other 
learned  barbarians  had  cut  in  pieces,  boiled  alive,  poifoned 
and  tortured  thoufands  of  inoffenfive  animals,  new  mafia  - 
cres  it  feems  muft  be  made,  and  new  tortures  infiicled, 
becaufe  an  experimentum  crucis  is  ftill  wanted  !  If 
knowledge  is  to  be  obtained  only  by  fuch  means  as 
thete,  it  certainly  muft  be  derived  from  a  very  polluted 
fource. 

2.  The  experiment  on  which  Dr.  Girtanner  builds 
fo  much  is  far  from  being  above  fufpicion.  Though 
we  may  cut  the  heart  out  of  an  animal,  and  let  it  bleed 
as  freely  as  poflible,  yet  we  certainly  overrate  our  abili- 
ties if  we  fay  that  all  the  blood  is  taken  out  of  it.  The 
more  perfectly  an  animal  is  bled,  the  lefs  irritability  it 
has  j  which  gives  a  reafonable  fufpicion,  that,  if  all  the 

blood 


THE    PLAGUE.  2*1 

blood  could  be  taken  away,  the  irritability  would  ceafe 
entirely.  In  frogs,  and  all  other  cold  blooded  animals, 
the  blood  contains  fewer  red  globules  than  in  fuch  as 
are  warmer ;  the  circulation  is  more  languid  than  in 
fuch  as  have  warm  blood,  and,  of  confequence,  the 
blood  will  retain  its  irritability  for  a  longer  time,  and  it 
will  likewife  be  more  difficult  to  deprive  the  body  of  all 
its  blood.  In  making  this  experiment,  therefore,  Dr. 
Girtanner  ought  to  have  brought  unexceptionable  proofs 
that  he  had  deprived  the  frog  of  all  the  blood  it  con- 
tained. But,  as  this  was  not  done,  we  mail  be  realty  to 
fufpedt.  that  fome  was  left  ;  in  which  cafe  we  mould  be 
ftill.as  uncertain  as  before  whether  the  poifon  a6ted  on 
the  irritable  fibre,  or  on  the  blood.  But  the  decifive 
experiment,  or  experimentum  cruets,  feems  to  have  been 
made  by  Fontana  himfelf,  by  injeding  a  little  of  the 
diluted  poifon  of  the  ticunas  into  the  jugular  vein  of  a 
rabbit.  Here  the  poifon  was  applied  to  the  blood  itfelf. 
It  could  get  at  no  other  part  of  the  fibre  but  the  infide 
of  the  vein,  which  is  not  accounted  very  irritable  ;  and 
the  quantity  inje&ed  was  fofmall,  that  the  Abbe  thought 
his  experiment  had  failed  ;  yet  the  animal  died  as  if  by 
lightning.  The  moment  he  turned  his  eyes  towards  it, 
it  was  abfolutely  dead,  without  difcovering  the  leaft 
convuifive  agony,  or  other  fign  of  fome  little  life  remain- 
ing, generally  obfervable  for  fome  time  in  animals  killed 
by  the  common  methods.  On  applying  the  fame  poi- 
ibn  to  a  large  nerve  of  another  animal  of  the  fame  fpe- 
cjes,  no  injury  followed. 

3.  The  difpute  is  of  no  confequence,  and  the  experi- 
ment will  prove  the  fame  thing  whether  we  fuppofe  the 
poifon  to  aft  upon  the  irritable  fibre  (the  nerves  and 
mufcles)  or  upon  the  blood.  The  only  important  point 
to  be  afcertained  is,  whether  there  be  in  nature  any  fub- 
fiance  which,  applied  to  the  internal  parts  of  the  body, 
or  to  a  wound,  will  inftantly  diforder  the  whole  in  fuch 
a  manner  as  to  bring  on  a  violent  difeafe  which  may 
prove  mortal  in  a  fhort  time.  If  any  fuch  there  is,  that 
fubftance,  whether  folid  or  fluid,  vifible  or  invifible,  may 
with  propriety  be  called  contagion ;  and  if  any  fuch  proceeds 

from 


222  A    TREATISE    ON 

/ 

from  the  body  of  a  difeafed  perfon  to  one  in  health,  the 
vapour  fo  proceeding  is  infeftion.  As  to  the  mode  of  its 
operation  we  are  little  concerned  ;  the  fudden  manner 
in  which  people  are  affected  (hows  that  poifons  kill  by 
fuppreffing  in  a  very  (hort  time  the  principle  of  life, 
which  feems  to  be  analogous  to  electricity,  or  rather  the 
very  fame  with  it ;  neither  is  it  more  incredible  that  the 
poifon  of  a  ferpent  mould  kill  by  disturbing  the  natural 
electricity  of  the  body,  than  that  the  ftroke  of  a  torpedo, 
or  electrical  eel,  iliould  kill  by  the  fame  means.  The 
only  difference  is,  that,  in  the  cafe  of  poifons,  the  per- 
nicious fubflance  is  introduced  into  the  body  itfelf ;  in. 
the  torpedo,  it  comes  with  violence  from  without.  The 
former  we  may  compare  to  the  fiJent  discharge  of  an 
electrified  jar  by  a  point,  the  latter  to  its  difcharge  with 
a  violent  flafh  by  a  knob.  But  that  in  poiibnous  bites 
the  blood  is  greatly  affected,  and  that  in  a  very  fhort  time, 
we  certainly  know.  There  are  fome  kinds  of  ferpents 
whofe  bites  are  fo  fuddenly  fatal,  that  no  cure  can  be 
applied  :  one  of  thefe,  called  the  fmall  laharra,  is  men- 
tioned by  Mr.  Bancroft  in  his  Natural  Hiftory  of  Gui- 
ana. Mr.  D'Opfonville,  in  his  Philofophic  Effays,  takes 
notice  of  one  in  the  Eaft-Indies,  which  he  calls  the  pot- 
fon  ferpent  or  ferpent  poifon ,  which  feems  to  be  as  bad  as 
the  laharra  mentioned  by  Bancroft.  This  too  is  but 
fmall,  viz.  two  feet  long,  and  very  ilender.  Its  fkin  is 
freckled  with  "  little  traits  of  brown,  or  a  pale  red,  and 
"  contrafled  with  a  ground  of  dirty  yellow  :  it  is  moftly 
"  found  in  dry  and  rocky  places,  and  its  bite  proves  mor- 
"  tal  in  lefs  than  one  or  two  minutes.  In  the  year  1759, 
*s  and  in  the  province  of  Cadapet,  I  law  feveral  in- 
"  ftancesof  it;  and,  among  others,  one  very  fingular, 
"  in  the  mid  ft  of  a  corps  of  troops,  commanded 
"  by  M.  de  BuiTy.  An  Indian  Gentoo  merchant  per- 
"  ceived  a  Mahometan  foldier  of  his  acquaintance 
*'  going  to  kill  one  of  thefe  reptiles,  which  he  had  found 
"  ileeping  under  his  packet.  The  Gentoo  flew  to  beg 
"  its  life,  protefting  that  it  would  do  no  hurt  if  it  was 
"  not  firft  provoked ;  pafiing  at  the  fame  time  his  hand 
"  under  its  belly,  to  carry  it  out  of  the  camp;  when 

"  fuddenly 


THE    PLAGUE.  223 

"  fuddenly  it  twifted  round,  and  bit  his  little  finger; 
"  upon  which  this  unfortunate  martyr  of  a  fanatic  chari- 
"  ty  gave  a  fhriek,  took  a  few  fteps,  and  fell  down  in- 
"  fenfible.  They  flew  to  his  aflidance,  applied  the  fer- 
"  pent-done,  fire,  and  fcarifications,  but  they  were  all 
"  ineffe&ual j  his  blood  was  already  coagulated*  About 
tc  an  hour  after  I  faw  the  body  as  they  were  going  to 
f<  burn  it,  and  I  thought  I  perceived  fome  indications 
ct  of  a  complete  dijjblution  of  the  blood." 

The  bite  of  the  brulan  or  burning ferpent >  according  to 
the  fame  author,  is  almoft  as  terrible.  "  This  is  nearly 
"  of  the  fame  form  with  the  laft,  its  fkin  is  not  quite  fo 
"  deep  a  brown,  and  is  fpeckled  with  dark  green  fpots  : 
"  its  poifon  is  almoft  as  dangerous,  but  it  is  lefs  active, 
"  and  its  effects  are  very  different.  In  fome  perfons  it  is 
:<  a  devouring  fire,  which,  as  it  circulates  through  the 
^  veins,  prefently  occafions  death  ;  the  blood  difTolves 
"  into  a  lymphatic  liquor  refcmbling  thin  broth,  with- 
**  out  apparently  having  pafled  through  the  intermedi- 
"  ate  ftate  of  coagulation^  and  runs  from  eyes,  nofe  and 
"  ears,  and  even  through  the  pores.  In  other  fubjects 
"  the  poifon  feems  to  have  changed  the  very  nature  of 
*c  the  humours  in  diffolving  them  ;  the  fkin  is  chapped 
"  and  becomes  fcaly,  the  hair  falls  off,  the  members  are 
"  tumefied,  the  patient  feels  all  over  his  body  the  mod 
"  racking  pains,  then  numbnefs,  and  is  not  long  in 
*'  perifhing." 

From  thefe  accounts  it  is  plain  that  poifons  do  ope- 
rate very  powerfully  on  the  blood ;  and  if  they  do  fo  in 
one  cafe  it  is  reafonable  to  think  that  they  do  fo  in  all. 
According  to  the  degree  of  ftrength  of  the  poifon,  how- 
ever, we  are  fure  that  the  effects  will  be  more  or  lefs  vifi- 
ble  to  us  ;  but,  though  we  fliould  not  be  able  to  per- 
ceive any  alteration  whatever  in  the  confidence  or  colour 
of  the  vital  fluid,  we  cannot  pofitively  fay  that  it  has 

not 


*  There  muft  certainly  be  feme  error  here ;  for  as  he  mentions  a 
of  the  blood  fo  loon  afterwards,  we  fhould  think  it  impoflible  that  any  coagu- 
lation would  have  taken  place.  Perhaps  the  word  only  imports  that  the 
circulation  was  completely  flopped. 

+  The  blood  certainly  does  not  coagulate  in  the  vcflels,  in  any  cafe  what 
ever,  unlcfc  by  injecting  fomething  into  them. 


224  A    TREATISE    ON 

not  undergone  any  change  ;  for  the  fpirit  which  operates 
in  it  is  too  fubtile  for  our  obfervation.  In  the  begin- 
ning of  almoft  all  difeafes,  perhaps,  blood  drawn  from  a 
vein  will  not  be  perceptibly  different  from  that  of  a  per- 
fon  in  health  ,  and  Dr.  Fordyce  particularly  takes  no- 
tice of  this  in  fevers  -,  but  as  the  difeafe  goes  on,  an  al- 
teration becomes  very  perceptible,  which  gives  juft 
ground  for  fufpicion,  that  there  had  been  fome  altera- 
tion from  the  very  firft,  though  invifible  to  us. 

After  all  our  difputes,  however,  we  fhall  find  that  the 
controverfy,  though  ultimately  important,  begins  more 
about  words  and  trifles  than  any  thing  elfe.  Dr.  Brown 
ufed  the  word  excitability,  Dr.  Girtanner  ufes  irritability, 
and  the  author  of  this  treatife,  the  words  vital  fpirit  and 
electricity -,  to  exprefs  fomething  equally  unknown  to  them 
all.  The  only  difference  is,  that  Drs.  Brown  and  Gir* 
tanner  fpeak  of  their  excitability  and  irritability  as  a 
kind  of  power  effentially  inherent  in  living  bodies,  acted 
upon  indeed  by  certain  fubftances,  but  incapable  of  deriv- 
ing any  fupply  from  without  ;  the  author  of  this  treatife 
confiders  it  only  as  a  modification  in  the  human  body, 
or  an  organization,  if  we  pleafe  to  call  it  fo,  of  that  fluid 
which  he  believes  to  be  univevfally  diffufcd,  under  the 
names  of  heat,  light  and  electricity.  Hence  that  por- 
tion modified  or  organized  in  the  human  body  muft  be 
tinder  an  entire  and  abfolute  dependence  upon  the  im- 
menfe  mafs  of  furrounding  fluid,  and,  by  any  alteration 
in  the  motions  of  it,  mud  be  often  very  perceptibly  af- 
fected ;  neverthelefs  as  this  fluid  was  originally  created 
to  preferve  and  not  to  deftroy  human  life,  there  is  much 
iefs  danger  from  a  natural  than  from  an  artificial  com- 
motion in  it.  In  fome  vifible  bodies,  fuch  as  poitons, 
the  fluid  ads  in  fuch  a  manner  as  to  counteract  the  ope- 
ration of  that  part  which  is  organized  in  the  blood  or 
nerves,  or  both.  Hence  on  the  introduction  of  fuch 
into  the  body  the  diforder  flies  like  lightning  through  alf 
parts  of  it,  and  in  a  very  lliort  time  brings  on  death, 
In  thofe  vapours  properly  called  contagions,  the  oppofite 
action'is  Iefs  violent,  and  therefore  thediibrders  they  pro- 
duce are  in  proportion.  Hence  fuch  difeafes  may  either 


be 

tin 


THE    PLAGUE.  22 


promoted  or  retarded  by  the  perceptible  properties  of 
the  atmofphere,  which  in  poifons  have  little  or  no  effect. 
There  is  indeed  a  remarkable  difference  in  the  ftrength 
of  the  poifon  fecreted  in  the  bodies  of  ferpents  at  certain 
feafons  of  the  year,  or  according  to  their  food.  M. 
D'Opfonville  obferves  that  the  poifon  of  ferpents  is  in 
general  more  powerful,  the  more  they  live  in 'hot  and 
dry  places,  where  they  feed  upon  infeds  that  are  full  of 
faline,  volatile  and  acrimonious  particles.  But,  notwith* 
ftanding  this  difference  in  the  ftrength  of  poifons  accord- 
ing to  the  circumftances  of  time  and  place,  there  is  not 
the  leaft  reafon  to  fuppofe  that  poifon  of  a  given  ftrength 
would  not  produce  the  very  fame  effects,  let  the  ftate  of 
the  atmofphere  be  what  it  would. 

If  therefore  we  certainly  know  that  there  are  fome 
kinds  of  aerial  vapours  which  when  applied  to  the  hu- 
man body  do  exert  a  power  directly  oppofite  to  the  vital 
principle,  there  is  no  reafon  to  doubt  that  fuch  vapours 
may  be  confined  among  certain  foft  fubftances,  fuch  as 
cotton,  wool,  &c.  and  remain  there  for  an  unknown 
length  of  time,  again  exerting  their  malignant  powers, 
when  a  frefh  object  comes  in  their  way.  Befides,  as  all 
kinds  of  air  with  which  we  are  acquainted  confift  of  a 
balis  united  with  the  ethereal  fluid  and  voiatilifed  by  it, 
there  is  reafon  to  fuppofe  that  contagions  themfelves  are 
formed  in  the  fame  manner.  Some  kinds  of  air  alfo  arc 
very  eafily  decompofed,  in  which  cafe  the  bafis  attaches 
itfeif  to  fome  terreftrial  fubftance,  the  ethereal  fluid 
which  voiatilifed  it  diffufing  itfeif  around  in  an  invifible 
manner,  but  generally  with  a  perceptible  heat.  Fixed 
air  affords  a  notable  example  of  this ;  for,  by  expofing  it  to 
lime-water,  or  even  dry  lime,  alkaline  fait,  volatile  al- 
kali, or  common  water,  a  decompofition  of  the  air  very 
readily  takes  place,  and  its  bafis  is  found  to  be  attached 
to  thole  fubftances.  What  happens  to  fixed  air  may 
alfo  happen  to  contagion.  The  bafis  of  it  may  have  a 
tendency  to  unite  itfeif  to  cotton,  or  fuch  like  fubftan- 
ces, and  thus  may  not  onlfnnfect  them,  but  concentrate 
itfeif  to  fuch  a  degree  as  to  produce  a  difeafe  much  more 
violent  than  that  of  the  perfon  who  gave  the  infection  ; 

G  g  and 


226  A    TREATISE    ON 

and  fomething  of  this  kind  has  even  been  obferved  with 
regard  to  infected  cotton.  But  now  another  queftion 
occurs :  As  fixed  air,  by  being  attached  to  terreftrial 
fubftances,  lofes  its  aerial  property,  why  fhould  the  baiis 
of  contagious  effluvia  ftill  retain  its  malignant  quality 
though  in  a  ftate  of  decompofition  ?  Here  we  are  again 
helped  out  by  analogy.  Fixed  air  is  known  to  be  capa- 
ble of  refuming  its  aerial  properties  occafionally,  from 
caufes  unknown  to  us,  though  we  cannot  fuppofe  them 
to  be  any  thing  elfe  than  the  invifible  adion  of  the 
ethereal  fluid  fo  often  mentioned  ;  which,  being  guided 
by  laws  unknown  to  us,  we  cannot  poffibly  comprehend. 
The  fact,  however,  is  certain,  that  the  bafis  of  fixed  air 
does  very  often  quit  the  fubftances  to  which  it  is  attach- 
ed, and  affume  an  aerial  ftate  in  great  quantity,  and 
with  very  mifchievous  effects.  Thus  the  old  lavas  of 
volcanoes,  if  chemically  tried  will  be  found  at  all  times 
to  contain  great  quantities  of  the  bafis  of  fixed  air,  but  it 
is  only  at  feme  times  that  the  mofetes  which  arefuppofed 
to  be  the  air  itfelf,  break  forth.*  In  like  manner  the 
ilrata  under  ground  always  contain  great  quantities  of  the 
aerial  bafis,  but  the  damps  in  mines,  which  are  certainly 
known  to  confift  moftly  of  fixed  air,  do  not  always  ap- 
pear ,  neither  do  they  gradually  accumulate,  but  come 
fuddenly,  fpreading  unexpe&ed  deftru&ion  among  thofe 
who  unfortunately  come  in  their  way.  The  fame  may 
take  place  with  contagion.  After  remaining  fome  time 
in  a  ftate  of  decompofition  it  may  have  a  tendency  to 
become  volatile  again,  or  it  may  lie  dormant  entirely  ; 
and  this  laft  will  explain  what  is  quoted  from  Dr.  Ruf- 
fel,  p.  178,  that  fometimes  commerce  may  be  carried  on 
with  infected  places  without  danger. 

Thus  we  fee  that  the  difpute,  originally  begun  about 
a  word,  involves  at  laft  a  matter  of  the  utmoft  impor- 
tance ;  for,  if  it  be  found  unreafonable  to  believe  that 
any  fuch  thing  as  contagion  exifts  or  can  exift,  it  follows 
of  courfe  that  it  is  allb  unreafonable  to  take  any  precau- 
tions againft  it.  Mr.  M'Lean  even  goes  a  ftep  beyond 
thofe  who  deny  the  exigence  of  contagion  -,  for  we  find 

him 

*  See  p.  nS|  note. 


THE   PLAGUE.  227 

him  alfo  denying  that  putrid  effluvia  can  produce  epi- 
demics ;  according  to  which  dodlrine,  it  feems,  we  may 
not  only  fafely  vifit  places  accounted  the  moft  dangerous 
on  account  of  infection,  but  live  in  all  manner  of  filth 
and  naftinefs  with  impunity.  It  is  plain  that  no  perfon 
can  ever  prove  that  it  is  impoflible  for  contagion  or  any 
thing  elfe  to  have  an  exiftence.  Indeed  if  nothing  had 
ever  induced  people  to  believe  that  it  did  exift,  it  would 
have  been  fuperfluous  to  fay  any  thing  about  it.  But 
when  we  have  innumerable  teftimonies  to  the  contrary ; 
when  the  opinions  of  the  greateft  phyficians,  as  Dr.  Lind, 
Dr.  Clarke,  Dr.  Mead,  Dr.  Sydenham,  Dr.  Fordyce, 
Dr.  Ruflel,  &c.  agree  that  not  only  the  plague,  but 
every  kind  of  fever,  is  infe&ious ;  when  we  know  from 
the  analogy  of  nature  that,  contagion  may  exift ;  when 
we  know  that  there  certainly  are  powers  in  nature  able  to 
produce  it ;  is  all  this  to  be  thrown  afide  merely  on  the 
ftrength  of  a  theory,  and  a  theory  too  which  can  never  be 
proved  ?  for  it  is  impoflible  to  prove  the  non-exiftence  o£ 
any  thing,  much  lefs  the  impoffibility  of  its  exiftence. 
The  lives  of  mankind  are  too  precious  to  be  fported 
with  on  philofophical  theories  j  and  prudence  will  always 
fuggeft,  that  wherever  danger  may  at  any  time  arife, 
there  it  is  proper  to  be  on  our  guard. 

Difmiffing  at  length  the  fubjed:  of  contagion  in  ge- 
neral, we  now  enter  upon  the  queftion,  Whether  doth  it 
appear  from  fair  invefligation  of  teftimony,  that  the 
plague  has,  at  any  time,  been  communicated  by  conta- 
gion or  not  ?  And  here  I  fhall  confine  myfelf  to  what 
has  been  adduced  by  Dr.  P.  RufTel  on  the  fubjedt  ;  for, 
if  we  find  that  the  difeafe  has  only  once  been  introduced 
by  contagion,  it  fignifies  nothing  though  we  were  able 
to  prove,  which  we  never  can  do,  that  it  had  been  an 
hundred  times  bred  in  feme  other  way.  The  matter  is 
of  too  great  importance  to  allow  even  a  chance  of  its  im- 
portation by  the  negled  of  the  precautions  neceflary  to 
prevent  it. 

Our  author  begins  with  obferving,  that  though  the  in- 
feftious  nature  of  the  plague  had  been  a  queftion  much 
agitated  in  the  fchools,  "  it  was  lefs  to  be  expeded  that 

phyficians 


228  A   TREATISE    ON 

"  phyficians  who  had  been  engaged  in  practice  among 
"  the  infedted  fliould  have  perfifted  in  the  opinion  that 
;t  the  difeafe  was  never  communicated  by  contagion." 
Such,  however,  has  been  the  cafe.  In  1720  forne  French 
phyficians  laboured  exceedingly  to  prove  that  the  plague 
which  then  raged  at  Marfeilles  and  throughout  Pro- 
vence arofe  from  corrupt  humours  bfed  in  the  body  in 
confequence  of  irregularity  in  the  feafons,  and  bad  ali- 
ment ;  that  it  was  fpread  by  the  fame  means,  in  concur* 
rence  with  terror,  grief,  defpondence,  or  other  debilitat- 
ing affections  of  the  mind  ;  but  was  neither  bred  nor 
diifeminated  contagion.  Dr.  Ruflel  mentions  in  a  note, 
feemingly  with  furprife,  that  "  fo  late  as  the  year  1778, 
"  Dr.  Stoll  of  Vienna  fliould  have  written  exprelsly 
"  againft  the  doctrine  of  peftilentiai  contagion."  To 
this  profeflbr  he  thinks  it  a  fuffictent  anfwer  to  quote 
the  following  palfage  from  Mr.  Howard  on  Lazarettos. 
"  It  muft  appear  very  ftrange,  that  he  fliould  go  back  to 
'*  Livy's  Roman  Hiftory  for  proofs  to  eftablifli  his  point, 
"  totally  neglecting  all  the  facts  concerning  the  nume- 
"  rous  vifitations  of  the  plague  recorded  in  modern  medi- 
"  cal  books,  or  which  had  happened  during  his  own 
"  time.  I  fuppofe  profeflional  men  will  lay  very  little 
"  ftrefs  upon  all  that  can  be  faid  on  peftilentiai  difeafes, 
"  in  general,  which  happened  in  wars  and  lieges  two 
"  thoufand  years  ago,  as  applied  to  the  plague  properly 
4C  fo  called,  a  difeafe  then  confounded  with  various 
"  others  from  which  the  accuracy  of  latter  obferva- 
"  tions  have  fufficiently  diftinguifhed  it." 

Dr.  Ruflel  complains  of  the  French  phyficians  at 
Marfeilles  having  made  unfair  reprefentations  j  particu- 
larly that  while  they  produce  as  irrefragable  arguments 
againft  contagion  their  own  efcape  unhurt,  amid  circum* 
fiances  of  fuppofed  danger,  they  pafs  ilightly  over,  or 
omit  all  mention  of  numbers  of  the  medical  afliftants 
whom  they  faw  perifli  in  the  exercife  of  their  profefiion. 
M.  Dedier,  however,  who  at  firft  oppofed  the  doctrine 
of  infection,  at  laft  renounced  his  opinions  fo  far  as  to 
allow  that  the  difeafe  might  be  communicated  to  dogs 
by  injecting  peftiferous  bile  into  their  Veins  ;  and  he 

Jikewife 


THE    PLAGUE.  229 

:ewi(e  admitted  that  it  might  be  communicated  from 
one  human  creature  to  another,  by  drawing  in  for  a  con- 
fiderable  time  the  breath  of  a  difeafed  perfon,  putting  on 
his  ihirt,  lying  in  the  fame  bed-clothes,  and  touching 
the  wounded  parts  of  one's  own  body  with  hands  embru* 
ed  with  the  fweat  or  blood  of  one  infeded.  He  affirms, 
however,  that  the  atmofphere  of  a  perfon  in  the  plague 
is  no  more  to  be  dreaded  than  that  of  a  venereal  pa- 
tient ;  and  that  the  touching  or  drefling  of  buboes  or 
carbuncles  is  not  attended  with  any  danger.  He  re- 
ftrids  the  infedious  quality  of  the  humours  to  the  bile  ; 
but  the  inoculation  of  a  perfon  by  the  matter  of  a  pefti- 
lential  ulcer*  undoubtedly  decides  this  point  againft 
him. 

On  the  fubjed  of  contagion  Dr.  Ruflel  obferves,  that 
the  vague  manner  in  which  the  word  has  been  ufed  has 
given  rife  to  much  confulion.  Some,  taking  advantage 
of  the  inaccurate  mode  of  expreflion  on  this  fubjed  ufed 
by  Dr.  Mead,  attacked  him  with  fophiftical  nonfenfe. 
The  following  may  ferve  as  a  fpecimen,  from  a  pam- 
plet  entitled  "  Diftind  Notions  of  the  Plague,  Sec.  by 
the  Explainer"  This  explainer  obferves,  that,  according 
to  Dr.  Mead,  "  air-  and  his  other  caufes  propagate  and 
"  fpread  contagion,  not  the  plague  ;  and  therefore  either 
"  contagion  and  the  plague  are  the  fame,  or  elfe  the 
"  plague  is  not  confidered  ;  if  the  firft,  then  his  caufes 
"  propagate  the  plague  ;  and  the  plague  accompanies 
*'  the  plague  ;  an  excellent  defence  !  But,  if  the  plague 
"  is  out  of  the  play,  then  contagioa  accompanies  no* 
"  thing*" — From  writers  like  this  we  certainly  cau  ex* 
ped  nothing. 

The  opinion  of  Dr.  Cullen  concerning  contagion  has 
been  already  noticed,  p.  179  ;  but  though  he  fuppofes 
it  to  be  a  matter  floating  in  the  atmofphere,  he  obferves 
that  contagions  are  never  "  found  to  ad  but  when  they 
"  are  near  to  the  fources  from  wherfce  they  arife  ;  that 
;v  is,  either  near  to  the  bodies  of  men,  from  which  they 
"  immediately  iflue,  or  near  to  fome  fubftances  which, 
w  as  having  been  near  to  the  bodies  of  men,  are  embu- 

"ed 

*  Seep  io4. 


A   TREATISE   ON 

"  ed  with  their  effluvia,  and  in  which  fubftances  thefe 
"  effluvia  are  fometimes  retained  in  an  adive  ftate  for  a 
"  very  long  time.  The  fubftances  thus  embued  with 
"  an  adive  matter  may  be  c&lledfomites  ;  and  it  appears 
"  to  me  probable,  that  contagions  as  they  arife  from  fo- 
"  mites,  are  more  powerful  than  as  they  arife  immedi- 
"  ately  from  the  human  body."  This  opinion  concern- 
ing the  great  power  of  contagion  imbibed  by  certain 
fubftances  is  conformable  to  what  was  above  laid  down 
by  reafoning  a  priori  on  the  nature  of  contagion.*  It 
is  doubted  by  Dr.  Ruffel,  but  Dr.  Lind  adopts  it,  and 
Van  Swieten  gives  his  opinion  to  the  fame  purpofe. 
"  I  am  convinced,  that  the  body  of  the  difeafed,  kept 
"  exaclly  neat  and  clean,  is  not  fo  liable  to  imprefs  the 
"  taint,  as  his  late  wearing  apparel,  dirty  linen,  and  un- 
"  cleanlinefs  of  any  fort  about  him  long  retained  in  that 
"  impure  ftate.  I  fay,  thefe  laft  contain  a  more  concen- 
"  trated  and  contagious  poifon  than  the  newly  emitted 
"  effluvia  or  excretions  of  the  fick." 

With  regard  to  the  original  caufe,  our  author  obferves, 
<c  that  the  plague  is  bred  or  produced  originally  from 
"  vitiated  human  effluvia,  is  a  matter  which  has  by  no 
<c  means  been  eftablifhed  on  proper  authoriry."  Setting 
afide  therefore  inquiries  of  this  kind,  he  thinks  it  fuffi- 
cient  to  inquire  whether  the  infection  be  not  communi- 
cated from  a  fick  to  a  found  perfon  by  immediate  con- 
tact 'y  whether  it  be  not  alfo  communicated  at  fome  dif- 
tance  through  the  medium  of  the  air  ;  and  whether  fub- 
ftances of  various  kinds  do  not  imbibe  the  infectious  ef- 
fluvia, and  retain  them  for  a  confiderable  time.  So  far 
as  thefe  points  admit  of  proof  from  the  experience  of 
times  paft,  the  queftion  concerning  peftilential  contagion 
will  admit  of  a  folution,  independent  of  all  theoretic  rea- 
foning whatever. 

2.  On  the  fubject  of  contagion  people  have  been- 
embarraiTed  by  confounding  the  true  plague  with  other 
malignant  difeafes.  This  has  been  done,  not  only  by 
the  ancients,  but  by  fome  moderns;  and  our  author 
quotes  Dr.  Pye,  faying  "  that  any  epidemic  licknefs, 

"  which 

*  See  p.  2*6. 


THE   PLAGUE.  231 

H  which  rages  with  more .  than  ordinary  violence,  and 
"  which  occafions  extraordinary  mortality  amongft 
"  mankind,  may  be,  and  is,  properly  termed  a  pefti- 
"  lence,  or  the  plague."  By  not  attending  to  the  pro- 
per diftin&ions,  in  thefe  cafes,  circumftances  belonging 
to  what  are  commonly  termed  malignant  or  peftilential 
fevers  will  often  come  to  be  very  improperly  applied  to 
the  true  plague. 

3.  "  It  may  be  remarked,  that  thofe  who  contend 
"  in  favour  of  contagion,  from  zeal  for  accumulating 
"  proofs,  have  collected  a  number  of  facts  from  hiftorical 
"  records  of  very  unequal  authority,  and  often  with  lit- 
"  tie  critical  ikill  in  difcrimination.  Of  this  error  their 
"  antagonifts  availing  themfelves,  have  felected  from  the 
"  mafs  the  inftances  moil  liable  to  doubt  or  objection, 
"  and  have  endeavoured,  by  their  manner  of  arranging 
"  them,  to  place  the  whole  in  a  ridiculous  light ;  while 
"  more  important  inftances  are  either  evafively  paft 
"  over,  misftated  in  the  reprefentation,  or  invalidated  by 
<c  general  declamation  on  the  little  credit  due  to  hifto- 
"  rians  in  matters  of  phyfic,  or  the  prejudices  prevalent 
**  in  ancient  times  of  ignorance,  and  on  contradictions 
"  to  be  found  in  the  arguments  of  thofe  who  fupport 
cc  the  fyftem  of  contagion." 

To  this  the  Doctor  adds  the  great  quantity  of  hypo- 
thetical reafoning  which  has  been  introduced  into  the 
controverfy,  and  above  all  the  unfair  dealing  of  the 
parties  in  carrying  on  the  difpute,  which  has  reduced 
the  matter  from  "  a  calm  inquiry  in  purfuit  of  truth, 
to  a  wrangling  conteft  for  victory."  Laftly  he  infifts, 
that,  had  it  not  been  for  the  mifreprefentations  and 
fmifter  dealings  of  thofe  who  have  written  againft  con- 
tagion, "  the  queftion  feems  to  have  been  properly  re- 
folved  in  the  affirmative ;"  and  he  complains  greatly  of 
the  conduct  of  the  Montpelier  phyficians  in  this  refpect, 
infomuch  that  "their  misdating  of  circumftances,  and 
"  the  partiality  fo  evidently  difcoverable  in  their  narra- 
ec  tive  of  cafes,  will  ferve  more  effectually  to  remove 
:<  doubts  on  the  fubject,  than  any  arguments  that  could 
w  be  ufed  againft  their  hypothefis," 

On 


2Js  A   TREATISE   ON 

On  the  fubjecT:  of  contagiou  our  author  obferves, 
that  fome  difficulties  ilill  remain  ;  but  thefe,  though 
proper  fubjects  of  future  inquiry,  "  do  not  appear  to  be 
"  offeree  fuiScient  to  invalidate  facts  already  eftablifhed: 
*'  It  is  well  known,  that  the  fame  perfon  who  has  been 
"  inoculated  two  or  three  times  for  the  fmall-pox  with* 
<c  out  effect,  even  in  aa  epidemic  feafon,  has  afterwards 
"received  the  infection  upon  repeating  the  operation 
**  at  a  diftance  of  time  when  the  difeafe  was  hardly  fpo- 
"  radic.  The  caufe  of  this  remains  unknown  ;  but  ig- 
*c  norance  of  it  was  never  produced  as  an  argument 

"  againfl  the  reality  of  variolous  contagion If, 

4<ofone  hundred  perfons  expofed  to  the  infection  of 
44  the  plague  by  a  near  aproach  to  the  fick,  ninety 
"  (hou^d  fall  fick,  mall  human  inability  to  affign  fatis- 
"  factory  reafons  for  the  efcape  of  the  other  ten  be  con- 
"  verted  into  a  pofitive  proof  againft  the  difeafe  having 
**  been  caught  by  contagion  ?  If  perfons  retired  from  all 
"  commerce  with  the  infected  and  their  attendants, 
<c  breathing  the  fame  air  with  the  reft  of  the  inhabitants, 
"  and  nourished  by  the  fame  aliment,  remain  untouch- 
*'  ed  during  the  ravage  of  the  plague,  as  long  as  they 
"  continue  fecluded,  but,  upon  unguarded  comcnunica- 
4<  tion,  are  taken  -ill  like  others  ;  can  any  rational  doubt 
"  be  entertained  about  the  caufe  of  their  former  fecu- 
"  rity  ?  Or  if  through  flealth,  or  neglecl:  of  requifits 
<c  precautions,  fubftances  tainted  by  the  lick  ihould  be 
"  conveyed  into  thefe  fecluded  retreats,  and  perfons 
**  living  temperately  as  before,  ignorant  of  what  had 
"  happened,  and  confequently  in  the  midft  of  imaginary 
"  fecuritv,  happen  to  be  feized  with  the  diftemper ;  can 
"  it  with  any  ihow  of  reafon  be  afcribed,  not  to  conta- 
44  gion,  but  to  terror,  or  to  colluvies  in  the  flomach  and 
"  bowels,  produced  by  intemperance  and  bad  aliment  ? 
<c  The  inftances  here  alluded  to  are  not  the  creation  of 
"  fancy -,  but  ftriftty  confonant  to  repeated  experience  in 
41  Turky  ;  to  (ay  nothing  at  prefent  of  what  has  been  ob- 
"  ferved  at  Marfeilles  and  in  various  cities  in  Europe." 

"  But  a  greater  difficulty  than  that  of  all  perfons  not 
"  being  equally  fufceptible  of  the  infection  ariies  from 


THE  PLAGUE.  233 

*6  the  ceiTation  of  the  plague,  at  a  period  when  the  fup- 
"  pofed  contagious  effluvia,  preferred  in  apparel,  furni- 
<c  ture,  and  other  fomites,  at  the  end  of  a  peftilential 
"  feafon,  muft  be  allowed  to  exift,  not  only  in  a  much 
"  greater  quantity  than  can  be  fuppofed  to  be  at  once 
"  accidentally  imported  by  commerce,  but  in  a  ftate 
"  alfo  of  univerfal  difperfion  over  the  city  :  the  fa<5r., 
"  however  unaccountable,  is  unqueftionably  certain  $ 
"  the  diftemper  feems  to  be  extinguifhed  by  fome  caufe 
"  or  caufes  equally  unknown  as  thofe  which  concurred  to 
*c  render  it  more  or  lefs  epidemical  in  its  advance  and  at 
*'  its  height.  In  Europe  fomething  may  be  afcribed  to 
*c  the  means  employed  for  the  cleanfing  of  houfes  and 
"  goods  fuppofed  liable  to  retain  the  latent  feeds  of  in- 
"  fe&ion  ;  but,  at  Aleppo,  where  the  diftemper  is  left  to 
"  take  its  natural  courfe,  aad  few  or  no  means  of  puri- 
"  fication  are  employed,  it  purfues  nearly  the  fame  pro- 
"  grefs  in  different  years :  it  declines  and  revives  in  cer- 
"  tain  feafons,  and,  at  length,  without  the  intervention 
"  of  human  aid,  ceafes  entirely." 

On  this  we  (hall  remark  in  general,  that  the  failure  of 

contagion  in  fome  cafes  to  produce  the  ufual  effe&s  may 

proceed  from  fome  cpnftitution  of  the  body,  difpofing  it 

not  to  allow  the  caufe  to  produce  its  ufual  effe&s  at  one 

time,  though  at  another,  the  conftitution  may  be  fo  far 

changed  as  very  readily  to  admit  it.      This  opinion  has 

been  very  generally  received  among  medical  people,  who 

have,  to  this  fingularity  of  conftitutioa  given  the  name 

of  idiojyncrafy .  It  is,  however  laughed  at  by  Mr.  M'Lean. 

;t  As  the  fad  (lays  he)  cannot  be  denied,  that  a  great 

"  majority  have  efcaped  after  contadt  with  perfons  ill  of 

M  difeafes  fuppofed  to  be  contagious,  attempts  may  per- 

c  haps  be  made  to  account  for  it  by  fuppofing  a  certain 

'  peculiarity  of  conftitution,  which  exempts  from,  or 

:i  difpofes  to,  difeafe.     Is  it  the  many  who  efcape  that 

*  have  this  happy  peculiarity  of  conftitution  ;  or  the  few 

4  who  are  feized  that  are  fo  unfortunate  as  to  poffefs  it  ? 

;  The  former  are  evidently  too  numerous  to  admit  fucri 

"  an  hypothecs.      The  property  muft  therefore,  I  con- 

'*  elude,  by  given  to  the  latter.      But  a  child  here  and 

H  h  «'  there 


234  A    TREATISE    ON 

<;  there  is  exempted  from  fmall-pox,  although  expofed 
"  to  its  contagion.  In  order  to  preferve  a  confiftency, 
<c  thisfaft  muft  be  accounted  for  by  the  fame  or  another 
peculiarity  of  conflitution.  Peculiarities  of  conftitu- 
tion,  then,  exempt  from  contagion  in  one  cafe,  and 
difpofe  to  it  in  another ;  and  thus  a  term,  which  in 
reality  means  nothing,  may  be  made  to  account  for 
*'  any  thing.  For  my  own  part  I  confefs  my  inability  to 
"  comprehend  any  other  peculiarities  of  conjiitittion,  or 
"  idiofyncrajies  of 'habit ',  than  what  are  conftituted  by  the 
"  different  degrees  of  health  and  difeafe  ;  the  different 
"  ftates  of  the  excitability." 

In  the  fame  manner  that  Mr.  M'Lean  argues  with 
regard  to  difeafe,  let  us  argue  concerning  bodily  ftrength. 
Some  men  are  able  to  lift  a  weight  of  6  or  700  pounds, 
but  a  great  majority  cannot  lift  above  300.  Whence 
proceeds  the  difference  ?  Is  it  the  few  who  lift  the  great 
weight  that  by  nature  have  more  ftrength,  or  is  it  the 
rriany  who  can  lift  only  the  fmaller  that  by  nature  have 
te/s  f  This  is  precifely  his  argument,  and  there  needs  no 
other  refutation  than  ftating  it  in  this  manner.  What 
he  calls  the  ftates  of  excitability  are  as  much  idiofyncrajies 
at  the  time  as  any  thing  elfe.  Mr.  M'Lean  will  not 
deny  that  a  perfon  debilitated  by  certain  caufes  is  more 
liable  to  be  feized  with  typhus  fever  than  one  who  is  not. 
What  does  this  proceed  from,  but  that  the  body  of  Uie 
one  is  prepared^  for  the  difeafe,  is  conftitutionally  difpofed 
to  receive  it,  or  has  an  idiofyncrafy  of  habit  difpofing  to 
it,  which  the  other  has  not  ?  It  is  true,  that  unlefs  we 
point  out  the  circumftances  which  conftitute  this  iciio- 
fyncracy  we  do  nothing ;  but  Mr.  M'Lean's  fcheme,  of 
icfolving  every  thing  into  excitability,  would  forever  pre- 
vent us  from  doing  fof  This  is  the  great  deficiency  of 
the  Brunonian  fyftem  altogether  ;  for,  by  attending 
only  to  the  animal  life  of  the  bodyj  he  feems  to  have 
abfolutely  forgot  that  we  had  any  thing  in  common  with 
vegetables.  The  bones,  for  inftance,  or  indeed  any  part 
of  the  body,  cannot  be  formed  by  the  power  which  go^ 
verns  it  after  it  was  formed.  The  growth  of  the  human 
body  is  as  ftrid  vegetation  as  that  of  a  tree ;  and  there- 

for? 


THE    PLAGUE. 

fore  we  find  that  after  the  excitability  is  entirely  gone, 
after  death  has  taken  place  for  a  confiderable  time,  the 
body  flili  retains  its  form,  and  would  do  fo  forever,  did 
not  other  powers  interfere  with  it.  Human  life  therefore 
is  a  compound  of  the  vegetable  and  animal  life,  the  for- 
mer being  the  bafis  of  the  latter  .$  and  it  is  the  vegetable 
life  which  is  much  more  commonly  the  fubject  of  difeafe 
than  the  animal  life.  In  vegetables  we  obferve  an  idio- 
jyncracy  of  habit,  as  well  as  among  animals.  Some,  even 
of  the  fame  fpecies,  are  much  more  vigorous  than  others, 
and,  among  fome,  difeafes  are  much  more  common  than 
others.  In  like  manner  among  the  human  race  fome 
are  ftrong,  others  weak  ;  in  fome  the  blood  is  much  more 
confident,  and  coagulates  on  expofure  to  the  air  much 
mere  firmly  than  in  others.  Excitability,  or  excitement, 
is  common  to  all,  and  the  degrees  of  it  (though  enume- 
rated by  Yates  and  IVTLean  in  a  kind  of  thermometrical 
icale)  muft  be  merely  imaginary,  becaufe  excitability  is 
not  the  object  of  our  fenfes.  The  obvious  properties  of 
the  body  itfelf,  independent  of  any  excitement  whatever* 
are  principally  to  be  confidered  in  medicine.  Thefe 
conftitute  the  peculiar  conftitution,  or  the  idiofyncracy  of 
habit,  belonging  to  each  individual.  Yet,  in  defiance 
of  every  consideration  of  thefe  obvious  properties,  which 
all  have  accefs  to  obferve,  the  new  fyftem  leads  us  only 
to  consider  an  invifible  and  unknown  being  called  excita* 
•bility-.  Hence  difeafes  peculiar  to  certain  conftitutions 
more  than  others  are  faid  to  be  occafioned  only  by  cer- 
tain degrees  of  excitability  common  to  all>  or  perhaps  to 
confift  in  thefe  very  degrees  them&lves.  Thus  a  pecu- 
liar mode  of  practice  has  been  introduced*  in  which  al- 
moft  the  whole  materia  medica  is  rejected.  We  have 
already  quoted  Dr.  Girtanner,  faying  that  all  difeafes 
whatever  may  be  cured,  as  well  as  produced,  by  only  four 
articles  ;  but  in  the  following  quotation  he  goes  frill  far* 
ther.  "  The  art  of  pharmacy  and  the  fcience  of  pre- 
"  fcription  will  become  iifelefs  ;  a  phial  of  alcohol  or 
c  laudanum  will  fupply  the  place  of  that  enormous 
s<  quantity  of  drugs  which  crowd  the  fhops  of  apothe- 
<4  caries.  The  trade  of  the  druggift— • — but  hold  -,  if  I 

"  continue 


A   TREATISE    ON 

*<  continue  this  prophetic  language,  I  fhall  only  expofe 
"  myfelf  to  ridicule,"  &c.  Reveries  of  this  kind  cer- 
tainly deferve  the  moft  fevere  reproof.  People  may  no 
doubt  amufe  themfelves  with  theories  as  well  as  any  thing 
elfe,  while  thefe  theories  continue  inoffenfive  ;  but  when 
the  belief  of  them  leads  to  a  rejection  of  what  has  been 
eftabliftied  by  the  experience  of  many  ages,  they  begin  to 
afifume  a  confequence  which  they  originally  had  not. 
We  have  already  feen  that  a  difbelief  of  the  doftrine  of 
contagion  leads  people  into  a  practice  accounted  danger- 
ous by  many,  and  which  cannot  be  proved  to  be  fafe. 
A  total  rejection  of  medicines,  the  efficacy  of  which 
have  been  attefted  by  thoufands',  and  which  never  can 
be  proved  to  have  no  efficacy,  muft  be  attended  with  ftill 
worfe  confequences,  as  thus  we  (liould  be  deprived  of 
the  means  of  curing  thofe  difeafes  which  our  imprudence^ 
in  rejecting  the  former  doctrine  might  have  brought  on/ 
But,  to  return  to  the  fubject  of  the  plague. 

The  difappearance  of  the  difeafe,  while  all  the  caufes 
that  we  fuppofe  capable  of  producing  it  remain  in  full 
force,  is  a  demonftration  that  it  depends  on  fornething 
entirely  diftinct  from  the  human  body*  and  from  all 
thofe  powers  which  perceptibly  act  upon  it.  It  proves 
that  this  unknown  power  has  only  a  temporary  exiftence, 
coming  to  perfection  at  one  feafon,  and  dying  away  in 
another;  fometimes  capable  of  being  revived,  and  fome- 
times  not.  This  corresponds  entirely  with  what  has 
been  laid  down  concerning  contagion  itfelf,  viz.  that 
like  other  aerial  vapours  it  is  capable  of  decompofition, 
and  remaining  for  an  uncertain  length  of  time  in  a  dor- 
mant ftate  -,  but  that  occasionally  it  may  revive,  and  ap- 
pear unexpectedly,  as  mofetes  arife  from  lavas,  or  damps 
in  mines.  After  a  city  has  been  thoroughly  infected 
with  a  peftilential  diforder,  therefore,  there  can  be  no  fe- 
curity  again  ft  its  re-appearance  ;  it  being  impofTible  to 
know  whether  the  contagion  may  not  be  ftill  exifting 
and  capable  of  being  revived  by  lome  unknown  caufe, 
though  it  has  been  dormant  ever  fo  long.  In  fuch  cafes 
it  may  with  propriety  be  laid  to  have  znfen  fpontaneoufly* 
though,  had  it  not  been  there  at  a  former  period*  there 

could 


THE   PLAGUE.  '  237 

could  be  no  reafon  to  think  that  it  would  have  appeared 
at  that  time. 

Dr.  Ruffel  next  takes  into  confederation  the  plague  at 
Marfeilles  in  1726,  of  which  he  fays  the  accounts  "  are 
"  more  full,  and  circumftances  better  authenticated, 
"  than  moft  of  the  accounts  of  anterior  plagues  to  be  met 
"  with  in  books.''  From  the  oppofition  to  the  do&rine 
of  contagion  at  the  time,  he  alfo  fuppofes  that  the  facts 
relative  to  its  introduction  would  be  feverely  fcrutinized, 
and  falfehoods  detected  :  "  but  (fays  he)  if,  inftead  of 
"  fuch  detection^  the  mod  material  haVe  been  pafled 
"  over  in  filence,  and  little  more  than  hypothetical  rea* 
"  foning  oppofed  to  others,  the  main  facts  may  be  con- 
"  fidered  as  eftabliflied,  if  poflible,  more  firmly  than 
"  they  were  before.'*  Thefe  facts  are  flated  as  follows  t 
'"  i.  That  the  plague  did  not  exift  in  France  before  the 
"  2£th  of  May,  1720.  2,  That  it  was  imported  in 
"  goods  from  the  Levant^  by  a  fhip  which  left  the  coaft 
"  of  Syria  the  beginning  of  February.,  and  arrived  at 
"  Marfeilles  the  25th  of  May.  Two  days  after  her  ar~ 
Cs  rival  one  of  the  fail ors  died  ;  an  officer  of  quarantine 
"  who  had  been  put  on  board  died  on  the  isth  of  June, 
"  and  a  cabin  boy  on  the  23d.  Some  porters  employed 
ct  in  opening  the  merchandife  at  the  lazaretto  alfo  died 
"  about  this  time.  Three  others  were  taken  ill  in  the  be- 
"  ginning  of  July,  with  buboes  in  the  groin  and  axilla. 
"  This  alarmed  the  furgeon  of  the  lazaretto  $  a  conful- 
C£  tation  was  held  with  two  other  furgeons  on  the  28th; 
"  thedifeafe  was  unanimoufly  declared  to  be  the  plague, 
"  and  the  three  patients  died  next  day  :  the  furgeon  of 
"  the  lazaretto,  with  part  of  his  family,  and  the  prie(t 
"  who  attended  the  fick,  were  alfo  taken  ill  and  died." 

From  the  lazaretto  the  difeafe  made  its  way  into  the 
city,  and  began  to  appear  about  the  loth  of  June.  By 
what  mearts  it  was  introduced  is  not  directly  faid  ;  but 
it  feems  to  have  been  by  fmuggling  infe&ed  goods.  In 
the  beginning  of  July  it  began  to  fpread  ;  but  a  kind  of 
paufe  having  taken  place  between  the  1 2th  and  23d, 
the  phyficians  were  reproached  with  having  miftaken  the 
diftemper.  During  this  fuppofed  interval,  however, 

it 


A    TREATISE    ON 

it  was  difcovered  on  the  i8th  of  July  that  the  difeafe 
had  fpread  in  a  certain  part  of  the  city.  A  furgeon  * 
employed  to  examine  into  the  matter,  declared  the  dif- 
temper to  be  the  worm-fever  ;  and  about  the  z^d  the 
council  of  health  were  informed  of  the  death  of  fourteen 
perfons  in  that  quarter,  and  of  feveral  others  falling  fick. 
The  furgeon  ftill  adhered  to  his  opinion,  but  a  phyfician- 
declared  it  to  be  the  true  plague.  About  the  end  of 
the  month  it  had  got  into  the  fuburbs  ;  four  phyfieians  : 
declared  it  to  be  the  true  plague,  but  their  report  was 
not  believed  ;  they  were  infulted  in  the  ftreets,  and  it 
was  not  until  fome  of  the  inhabitants  of  better  rank 
were  taken  ill,  that  the  true  ftate  of  the  matter  gained- 
credit. 

"  Such  (fays  Dr.  RufTel)  was  the  rife  of  the  plague 
"  at  firft,  and  its  progrefs  afterwards  in  the  months  of 
"June  and  July ;  whence  it  appears,  that  perfons  on 
"  board  the  fufpected  fhip,  thofe  employed  in  airing  the 
cc  goods,  a  furgeon  and  a  prieft,  who  attended  the  lick* 
"  were  among  the  firft  infected  j  that  the  pafTengers 
"  from  the  feveral  mips,  all  of  which  (hips,  the  firft 
"  excepted,  brought  foul  patents,  were,  together  with 
<c  their  baggage,  admitted  into  the  city,  after  preforming 
"  a  quarentine  of  little  more  than  eighteen  days  3  that 
"  the  diftemper  from  the  2Oth  of  June  till  towards  the 
Cc  end  of  jaly  advanced  very  flowly,  and  fometimes  feem- 

ed  to  paufe ;  that  it  attacked  chiefly  the  poorer  fort  of 

people,  and  was  found  in  diftinct  quarters  of  the  city  ; 
<;  and  laftly,  that,  during  ike  firft  forty  days,  few  or  none  ef 
"  the  infected  recovered  $  a  circumftance  entirely  confo- 
<c  nant  to  what  was  obferved  in  the  beginning  of  the 
"  plague  at  Aleppo.'* 

Three  other  facts  are  mentioned  by  our  author,  viz. 
that  the  diieafe  was  evidently  communicated  by  in- 
fection ;  that  thofe  who  were  careful  to  ieclude  them- 
felves  from  all  communication  with  the  fick  and  with  in- 
fected goods,  were  not  infected  >  and  laftly,  that  the  • 
difeafe,  which  began  to  rage  violently  in  Auguft,  con- 
tinued to  do  fo  through  that  and  the  following  month* 
but  declined  faft  in  the  months  of  O&obcr  and  Novem- 
ber* 


cc 


THE   PLAGUE.  239 

ber,  and  feemed  to  ceafe  in  the  middle  of  winter.  Some 
accidents  happened  in  1721,  between  the  months  of 
February  and  July,  which  gave  pccafional  alarm  j  but 
the  diftemper  did  not  fpread,  and  ceafed  entirely  after 
the  fummer  folftice  of  that  year. 

To  all   this,  however,  objections  have  been    made. 

1.  That  the  irregular  feafons  of  the  former  year,  a  bad 
crop,  and  unwholefome  aliment,  had  produced  a  malig- 
nant epidemic,  all  which,  joined  to  the  popular  dread  of 
contagion,  were  fufficient  to  produce  the  plague  without 
any  imported   infection.      To  this  Dr.  RufTel  replies, 
that  thefe  portions,  afTumed  as  facts,  had  no  exiftence ; 
for  which  he  refers  to  the  publications  of  the  times. 

2.  It  was  objected  that  there  were  inftances  of  the  plague 
in  Marfeilies  before  the  z^th  of  May.     Thefe  inftances 
are  only  five  in  number,  produced  by  M.  Deidier,  "  who 
"  faw  not  the  cafes  himfelf,  yet  (fays  Dr.  Ruffel)  from 
"  the  very  imperfect  accounts  he  had  been  able  to  glean, 
fc  he  thought  himfelf  juftified  in  declaring  they  bore  all 
"  the  marks  of  the   true  plague.      Nothing  (adds  the 
"  Doctor)  but  extreme  partiality  to  an  hypothelis  could 
"  have  led  any  one  practifed  in  the  plague,  into  fuch  a 
"  declaration  ;  the  cafes  bearing  every   internal  mark  of 
"  belonging  to  a  different  clafs  from  the  plague.    I  fhall 
"  endeavour  to  fhow  this  in  a  few  words. 

"  Of  the  five  fuppofed  infected  patients,  three  reco- 
<£  vered,  two  died,  and  all  had  eruptions.  One  who 
fc  died  had  a  parotis  (the  moft  ambiguous  of  all  pefti- 
*'  lential  tumours)  without  any  concurrence,  fo  far  as 
'*  appears,  of  peftilential  fymptoms.  The  tumour  had 
"  appeared  fix  days  before  the  woman's  death,  but  how 
"  long  ike  had  been  lick  remains  unknown.  The  other 
*'  died  the  i6th  or  i7th  day,  a  very  unufual  period  in 
"  the  plague.  She  alfo  had  a  parotis,  which  did  not 
"  make  its  appearance  till  the  loth  or  nth  day  of  the 
*•'  difeafe.  No  peftilential  fymptoms  whatever  are  men- 
"  tioned.  Of  the  three  who  recovered,  one  was  very  ill 
**  with  a  fever  and  carbuncle  ;  but  neither  the  invafion 
^  nor  the  duration  of  the  difeafe  are  mentioned.  Ano- 
"  ther  had  a  carbuncle  and  a  fmall  tumour  on  the 

"  thigh  $ 


240  A    TREATISE    ON 

"  thigh  ;  and  the  third  (which  bears  the  neareft  refem- 
"  blance  to  a  very  flight  infe&ion)  had  alfo  a  bubo  in 
**  the  thigh  ;  but  the  tumours  in  neither  of  thefe  pa- 
:i  tients  are  defcribed  in  fuch  a  manner  as  diftinguifhes 
"  them  from  ordinary  tumours ;  and  the  apothecary, 
"  who  gives  the  account  from  memory,  had  in  all  like- 
"  lihood  never  feen  a  peftilential  bubo  before." 

"  Of  the  perfons  infefted  for  fome  time  after  the  ar- 
fc  rival  of  the  (hips  from  the  Levant,  none  had  erup- 
;t  tions,  and  all  perifhed  after  a  few  days  illnefs  ;  which 
;c  agrees  entirely  with  what  was  obferved  at  Aleppo  in 
16  the  beginning  of  the  plague  :  hardly  any  of  the  ficlc 
"  recovered,  and  the  major  part  died  in  three  or  four 
"  days,  without  any  appearance  of  buboes.  Upon  the 
fi  whole,  therefore,  I  think  it  very  clearly  eftabhmed, 
"  that  the  plague  did  not  exift  in  France  before  the 
"  month  of  May,  1720.  Prior  to  M.  Deidier,  how- 
"  ever,  I  find  a  M.  Pons  had  endeavoured  to  prove 
"  that  the  plague  was  in  Marfeilles,  not  only  before  the 
"  month  of  May  1720,  but  even  in  the  preceding  year. 
"  I  have  not  had  an  opportunity  of  examining  that  gen- 
^  tleman's  book." 

3.  It  is  objected  that  the  difeafe  was  not  brought 
from  the  Levant  by  in.fe&ed  goods.  u  Captain  Cha- 
*e  taud's  veflel,  fuppofed  to  have  brought  the  infected 
*'  goods,  arrived  with  a  clean  patent,  or  bill  of  health, 
"  having  left  the  coaft  of  Syria  before  the  plague  broke 
"  out  there  ;  (lie  confequently  cannot  reaibnably  be 
*l  thought  to  have  tranfported  the  plague,  which  was 
<4  not  in  the  ports  from  whence  (he  came." 

To  this  Dr.  R.uffel  anfwers,  that  on  commercial  ac- 
counts the  Turks  carefully  conceal  the  appearance  of 
the  plague  from  the  Europeans.  Should  reports  of 
accidents  get  abroad,  they  are  variouily  and  contradic- 
torily represented,  and  peftilential  marks  and  tumours 
fraudulently  concealed.  Though  Chataud  obtained  a 
clean  patent,  the  plague  broke  out  foon  after  his  de^ 
parture,  and  three  veflel s  with  foul  patents  arrived  at 
Marfeilles  a  few  days  after  Chataud.  "  To  this  (fays 
"  Dr.  Ruffel)  it  may  be  further  added,  that,  notwith- 

{landing 


THE    PLAGUE.  241 

w  (landing  his  clean  patent,  perfons  acquainted  with  the 
"  Levant  will  think  it  far  from  improbable,  that  the 
"plague  might  actually  have  been  in  Sidon  when  he 
*'  failed,  though  unknown  to  the  magiftrate,  by  whom 
"  the  patents  are  granted.  ...  A  clean  bill  of  health 
"  imports  that  the  place  has  been  free  from  plague,  and 
"  all  fufpicion  of  plague,  for  a  certain  fpace  of  time ;  but 
"  the  clean  patents  of  the  two  firft  arriving  from  the 
"  Levant,  after  the  cefTation  of  the  plague,  are,  according 
"  to  Mr.  Howard,  deemed  foul  at  Marfeilles,  and  the 
"  paflengers  are  obliged  to  perform  a  quarantine  of  thirty- 
"  one  days.  The  French  confuls  lying  under  an  obli- 
"  gation  to  infert  in  their  patents  a  detail  of  circum- 
"  (lances,  it  muft  appear  ftrange,  when  the  condition  of 
"  Syria  at  that  time  is  coniidered,  how  Captain  Chataqd 
"  fhould  have  obtained  a  clean  patent." 

Though  this  muft  certainly  be  deemed  a  fufficient 
anfwer  to  the  objection,  Dr.  Ruffel  goes  on  to  give  an 
account  of  what  had  happened  the  preceding  year,  when 
the  plague  had  raged  violently  at  Aleppo  $  and  (hows 
that,  from  the  condition  of  the  whole  coaft  of  Syria,  a 
return  of  the  plague  was  certainly  to  be  expected  ;  that 
the  French  confuls  could  not  be  ignorant  of  this,  nei- 
ther could  the  council  0f  health  at  Marfeilles  be  unac- 
quainted with  what  had  happened  at  Aleppo  the  pre- 
ceding year.  "  The  facility  with  which  the  patents 
"  feem  to  have  been  iffued  in  Turky,  and  the  partial 
"  indulgence  of  the  council  to  Chataud's  (hip,  notwith- 
"  (landing  the  very  extraordinary  mortality  which  had 
"  avowedly  happened  on  the  voyage,  together  with  their 
cf  eafy  confidence  afterwards  in  the  reports  of  the  furgeon 
"  of  the  lazaretto,  can  only  be  accounted  for  from  the 
"  prevailing  influence  of  private  commercial  intereft  over 
"  a  fen(e  of  official  duty." 

Our  author  next  proceeds  to  take  notice  of  what 
happened  during  this  (hip's  voyage  to  Marfeilles.  On 
the  31(1  of  January  he  left  the  coaft  of  Syria  with  a 
clean  patent,  before  the  plague  broke  out.  On  the  2$th 
of  May  he  arrived  at  Marfeilles,  from  Sidon,  Tripoli  and 
Cyprus.  On  the  voyage,  or  at  Leghorn,  he  loft  fix  of 

li  the 


-4s  A    TREATISE-^ON 

the  crew  ,  but,  by  the  certificates  of  the  phyficians  of 
health  at  Leghorn,  thefe  died  only  of  malignant  fevers 
caufedby  unwho/efome  provifions.  Thefe  laft  words  in  the 
Tralte  de  la  Pefte  are  faid  to  have  been  interpolated  at 
-Marfeilles.  At  any  rate,  as  Dr.  Ruflel  obferves,  they 
could  relate  only  to  thofe  who  died  at  Leghorn,  npt  t© 
the  others,  whom  the  phyficians  had  not  feen. 

The  other  account  is  much  lefs  favourable.  Accord- 
ing to  it,  Chataud  "  left  Sidon  the  3ift  of  January  with 
"  a  clean  patent.  The  plague  discovered  itfelf  there 
"  a  few  days  after  his  departure.  Having  fuftained  fome 
**  damage  by  bad  weather,  he  put  into  Tripoli,  where  he 
"  embarked  fome  merchandife ;  he  took  in  alfo  fome 
<c  Turks,  paflengers  for  Cyprus,  together  with  their lug- 
<c  gage.  Soon  after  the  fhip  had  left  Tripoli,  one  of 
"  thefe  paflengers  fell  fick  and  died.  Two  of  the  failors 
*'  employed  to  throw  the  corpfe  overboard  defifted  at  the 
"  defire  of  the  pilot,  and  the  reft  of  the  ceremony  was 
"  performed  by  the  other  Mahommedan  paflengers ; 
"  the  ropes  with  which  the  body  was  lowered  down,  be- 
"e  ing  by  way  of  precaution  thrown  into  the  fea.  With- 
"  in  a  few  days  the  two  failors  who  had  handled  the 
<c  corpfe  were  taken  fick  and  died.  At  Cyprus  the  fhip 
"  put  her  remaining  pafiengers  on  fhore,  and  made  a 
*6  very  fhort  ftay.  Soon  after  her  departure  from  that 
"  ifland,  a  third  failor  and  the  furgeon  died  of  an  illnefs 
<&  of  a  few  days  duration.  The  captain,  juftly  alarmed 
<c  by  thefe  accidents,  ordered  the  bedding  and  other 
"  things  ufed  by  the  deceafed  to  be  thrown  into  the 
"fea;  and  kept  himfelf  carefully  feparate  from  the 
"  crew  during  the  remainder  of  his  voyage.  Some  time 
"  after  this  three  more  failors  fell  fick,  and,  there  being 
"  no  furgeon  on  board,  the  veflel  put  into  Leghorn, 
*'  where  the  three  fick  men  died,  and  the  phyfician  and 
*e  furgeon  of  the  lazaretto  declared  the  difeafe  to  be  a 
"  malignant  peftilential  fever." 

Our  author  coniiders  the  above  account  as  a  full 
proof  of  the  plague  being  imported  by  Chataud's  vef- 
fel  :  he  declines  entering  into  the  queftion  about  the 
•fioffibility  of  importing  contagion  ^in  merchandife.  How 

this 


THE   PLAGUE.  243 

this  might  take  place  has  already  been  explained  -,  and 
the  prefent  inftance  of  its  having  been  imported  is  as 
clearly  proved  as  can  be  expected.  A  collateral  proof, 
with  regard  to  the  contagion  of  the  fmall-pox,  we  have 
from  Dr.  Huxham.  A  beggar,  ill  of  that  difeafe,  ap- 
proached a  certain  town  in  England,  but  was  not  fufFer* 
ed  to  enter,  for  fear  of  infection.  The  beggar  died,  and 
the  infected  clothes  were  burnt  at  fome  diftance  from 
the  town  ;  but  the  fmoke  being  blown  upon  it  by.  the 
wind,  the  fmall-pox  in  a  fliort  time  made  its  appearance* 
beginning  in  that  part  upon  which  the  fmoke  was  blown. 
This  clearly  proves  that  one  fpecies  of  contagion  may  ad- 
here to  clothes,  and  is  a  very  ftrong  prefumption  that 
any  other  may  do  the  fame.  It  alfo  (hows  that  conta- 
gion, when  once  produced,  is  by  no  means  eafily  deftroy- 
ed  5  and  confequently  that  all  kinds  of  purification,  even 
when  ufed  with  the  utmoft  care  and  diligence,  are  fcarce 
fufficient  to  enfure  fafety. 

It  would  now  be  fuperfluous  to  enter  farther  into  the 
fubject  of  the  plague  being  communicated  by  infe&ed 
goods,  did  not  our  author  quote  a  work  of  Dr.  Pye  of 
London,  in  which  the  latter  from  the  very  Journal  (which, 
has  been  ufed  as  containing  arguments  in  favour  of  con- 
tagion) makes  inferences  directly  oppofite.  "  The  facts 
"  related  in  this  journal  (fays  Dr.  Pye)  feemed  to  me 
"  to  make  fo  clearly  againft  the  modern  doctrine  of  con- 
"  tagion,  that  if  this  writer  had  not  mentioned  them  as 
"  undeniable  inftances  in  his  favour,  I  fhould  not  have 
"  thought  there  had  been  any  perfons  here  in  England  fo 
"  dull  of  underftanding,  or  fo  much  blinded  with  pre- 
"  judice,  as  to  ftand  in  need  of  having  thefe  facts  put 

'  into  a  more  obvious  light  :  but,  having  this  occafion, 
"  I  {hall  confider  them  more  largely  than  otherwife  I 
"  would  have  done,  and  fhow  that  the  porters,  whodi- 
cc  ed  in  the  lazaretto  at  Marfeilles,  received  no  hurt  or 
"  infection  from  the  goods. 

"  To  leave  no  room  for  objection,  I  {hall  take  notice, 
6 c  that  a  guard  of  quarantine  died  on  board  Chataud's 

:i  mip  the  1 2th  of  June  j  but,  as  this  officer  was  no 
*<  ways  concerned  either  in  unloading  or  opening  the 

"  goods, 


*44  A   TREATISE    ON 

"  goods,  he  could  receive  no  hurt  from  them  ;  and  bea 
"  fides,  this  muft  have  been  fourteen  or  fifteen  days  af- 
cc  ter  the  goods  had  been  carried  out  of  the  (hip  into 
"  the  lazaretto.  Further,  fix  of  their  men  are  faid  to 
"  die  at  Leghorn  ;  but  the  town  of  Leghorn  was  not  in- 
"  fefted  from  thence,  which  would  have  been  more 
<c  likely  if  there  had  been  any  infedion  in  the  cafe,  than 
"  that  Marfeilles  fhould  be  afterwards  infeded. 

"  If  any  infe&ion  or  infectious  aura  can  be  fuppofed 
"  to  be  packed  up,  and  brought  in  goods,  fuch  infedion 
"  or  infectious  aura  muft  necefTarily  ifiTue  forth  from 
*'  them  in  greateft  abundance,  and  with  the  greateft 
*c  force,  at  the  firft  opening  or  unpacking  of  them  $  and, 
:c  as  it  muft  continue  to  fly  off  every  moment,  and  be 
"  thereby  continually  diminifhing,  it  is  likewife  cer- 
*'  tain,  that  in  a  very  few  days  the  goods  muft  be  in  a 
<e  great  meafure,  if  not  entirely,  cleared  of  it.  Where- 
"  fore,  if  the  porters  could  have  been  infe&ed  from  the 
<e  goods  at  all,  it  muft  have  been  at  the  firft  opening  of 
*'  them  :  but,  even  according  to  this  journal,  the  porters 
*'  that  firft  fell  fick  were  not  taken  ill  before  the  23d  of 
*c  June,  Whereas  Chataud's  ihip  arrived  the  2£th  of  May 
"  preceding  ;  fo  that  the  goods  of  that  mip,  in  purifying 
<c  which  the  porter  firft  mentioned  was  employed,  had 
<e  been  airing  and  purifying  for  twenty-fix  or  twenty- 
"  eight  days  before  this  accident  happened  ;  and  it  cafi- 
"  not  be  conceived  that  after  fo  long  a  time  they  fhould 
"  not  have  been  entirely  purged  of  all  infection  or  infec- 
<c  frous  aura,  if  any  could  have  been  brought  with  them. 
"  Or  if  it  can  be  fuppofed,  which  I  think  impoffible,  that 
"  any  part  might  ftill  be  left,  it  muft  withal  be  fuppofed 
"  fo  much  lefs  than  at  firft,  as  not  to  be  capable  of  doing, 
"  thofe  porters  efpecially,  the  Jeaft  hurt  :  to  fuppofe 
<c  otherwife  would  be  to  argue  that  the  fame  man  who 
<£  fome  days  before  had  received  and  borne  a  very  great 
"  quantity  and  force  without  any  injury >  could  then  be 
"  killed  by  a  quantity  and  force  infinitely  lefs. 

"  According  to  the  report  of  merchants,  Frenchmen 
"  fire  not  fubjecl  to  the  plague  in  Turky  ;  and  it  cannot 
"  be  conceived  that  fo  fmall  a  quantity  of  infectious  air 

4t  as 


THE   PLAGUE.  245 

<e  as  can  be  packed  up  and  brought  in  a  bale  of  goods, 
"  fhould  deftroy  them  in  France,  or  in  an  air  and  cli- 
"  mate  diftant  and  different ;  when  the  whole  atmo- 
"  fphere  of  the  fame  infe&ious  air  is  found  not  to  injure 
"  them  in  Very  infeded  places,  and  wherein  it  is  al- 
"  lowed  to  be  bred  and  generated." 

Thus  far  Dr  Pye.-~ -Let  us  now  hear  Dr.  Ruffel  in 
anfwer. 

"  The  death  of  the  quarantine  officer  was  mentioned 
"  in  order  to  leave  no  room  for  obje&ion ;  but  ftill  it 
"  may  be  objected  that  he  has  omitted  the  death  of 
"  the  failor  on  the  2jth  of  May,  and  aflerted,  in  con* 
"  tradition  to  the  journal,  that  the  former  fix  failors 
"  died  at  Leghorn.  That  Leghorn  was  more  likely  to 
"  be  infefted  than  Marfeilles,  is  a  ftrange  notion.  The 
"  fhip  had  landed  no  goods  there,  nor  had  any  inter- 
"  courfe  with  the  fhore  ,  for -the  phyfician  who  vifits 
"  the  fick  on  board,  remains  at  a  diftance  from  the  fhip, 
"  in  a  boat*  and  the  dead  bodies  are  funk  in  the  fea. 
"  As  to  the  circumftance  of  the  goods  of  Chataud's  vef- 
"  fel  being  all  in  the  lazaretto  before  the  i2th  of  June, 
"  it  is  a  fuppofition  to  be  attributed  to  Dr.  Pye's  un- 
"  acquaintance  with  matters  of  that  kind  ;  for  it  is  im- 
"  poffible  a  fhip  which  arrived  the  25th  of  May  fhould 
"  difcharge  the  whole  of  her  cargo  in  two  or  three  days. 
*6  The  difpatch  would  have  been  miraculous,  confider- 
"  ing  the  fhip  lay  near  two  leagues  from  the  lazaretto, 
"  and  was  unloaded,  and  the  boats  navigated,  by  her 
<c  own  crew.  It  did  not  occur  to  Dr.  Pye,  that  forne 
"  time,  previous  to  the  veflels  beginning  to  unload,  is 
"  taken  up  in  examination  and  other  forms  at  Pomegug* 
"  and  the  council  of  health.  The  lofs  of  fix  men  on  the 
C£  voyage  was  an  extraordinary  circumftance,  that  re- 
"  quired  deliberation  ;  and  it  appears  that  on  the  29th, 
"  alter  the  death  of  the  failor  on  board  Chataud's  vef- 
;c  fel,  the  council  determined  the  quarantine  of  his 
41  cargo  to  be  forty  days,  commencing  from  the  landing 
*c  of  the  laft  bale  j  which  was  double  the  time  ufually 
"  allowed  for  a  fhip  with  a  clean  patent.  It  is  very 
?'  probable,  therefore,  that  tke  fhip  did  not  begin  to 

"  unload 


246  A    TREATISE    ON 

"  unload  till  after  the  2pth  of  May,  and  poffibly  had 
<c  not  finished  when  the  quarantine  officer  died,  the  i2th 
"  of  June,  who  muft  have  been  taken  ill  two  or  three 
"  days  before. 

"  In  regard  to  the  time  requifite  for  the  complete 
"  evaporation  of  the  infedious  aura,  in  what  propor- 
"  tionate  gradation  its  adivity  is  impaired  by  ventila- 
"  tion,  and  the  Jfpecific  quantity  required  to  produce 
"  effect  on  the  human  body,  they  are  matters  which  I 
<c  apprehend  will  not  readily  be  admitted  to  be  clearly 
"  and  certainly  known.  That  the  firft  porters  were 
"  not  taken  ill  before  the  23d  of  June,  is  very  true ; 
"  but  that  the  goods  had  been  airing  and  purifying  for 
"  twenty-fix  or  twenty-eight  days,  has  been  mown  above 
"  to  be  an  error.  The  Dodor  alfo  makes  two  other 
**  fuppofitions  equally  erroneous.  The  firft,  that  the 
"  whole  of  the  cotton,  contained  in  a  number  of  bales 
"  is  equally  imbued  with  infedious  aura ;  the  fecond, 
"  that  all  the  bales  of  a  fhip's  cargo  are  opened  nearly 
"  about  the  fame  time.  But,  as  the  cotton  contained 
"  in  thefe  bales  may  not  only  have  been  collected  from 
"  different  villages  at  different  times,  but  packed  up 
*£  under  various  circumftances  relative  to  the  materials 
**  ufed  for  embalage,  and  the  perfons  employed  in  em- 
"  baling  or  fteeving  them  ;  it  may  eafily  be  conceived 
tc  how  the  cargo  of  a  (hip,  coming  even  from  a  place 
"  where  the  plague  adually  rages,  may  be  only  par- 
"  tially  infeded,  or  not  infeded  at  all.  ^The  warmeft 
*'  advocate  for  contagion  never  contended  for  every 
"  bale  of  a  fhip's  cargo  being  equally  infedious.  As 
<e  to  the  airing  of  the  bales,  it  is  a  laborious  and  a 
"  tedious  procefs.  -  Where  there  is  a  confiderable 
"  number,  it  takes  up  feveral  days  to  open  and  arrange 
"  them,  goods  of  different  kinds  muft  be  difpofed  fepa- 
*'  rately,  accounts  taken,  and  the  cordage,  &c.  laid  up 
"  with  care  where  it  may  be  found  again.  The  labori- 
*'•  ous  part  of  thefe  operations  is  performed  by  the  porters, 
"  who  alfo  transport  the  goods  from  the  water  fide  to  the 
"  enclofure  where  they  are  to  be  aired  :  and,  as  the  days 
4£  of  Quarantine  do  not  begin  to  be  reckoned  till  all  the 

;"  goods 


THE  PLAGUE.  247 

ft  goods  are  landed,  the  porters  for  fome  days  at  the  be- 
"  ginning  are  fufficiently  employed  in  receiving  and  ar- 
"  ranging  the  cargo,  that  being  the  bufmefs  requiring  the 
"  firft  difpatch.  When  thefe  circumftances  are  confi- 
"  dered,  it  will  appear  no  extravagant  fuppofition,  that 
"  fome  of  the  laft  opened  bales  of  Chataud's  cargo  might 
"  ftill  retain  enough  of  infectious  aura  to  infect  the  por- 
54  ter  on  the  23d  of  June.  To  fet  this  retardment,  al- 
"  moft  unavoidable  in  the  opening  of  bales,  in  a  ftill  clear- 
"  er  light,  it  mould  be  obferved,  that,  by  the  regulations 
"  at  Marfeilles,  all  fufpected  goods  are  fubject  to  what  is 
"  termed  fereines  ;  that  is,  a  certain  number  of  bales  are 
"  taken  out  of  the  hold,  and,  being  opened  at  both  ends, 
"  are  expofed  to  the  air  for  two,  three,  or  fix  days,  by 
"  way  of  trial,  in  order  to  fee  if  any  figns  of  infection 
"  mould  appear  among  thofe  employed  in  handling  the 
*;  merchandife.  When  thefe  have  been  aired,  more  or 
ct  lefs,  according  to  circumftances,  another  parcel  is 
"  opened  and  expofed  to  ventilation  in  like  manner  : 
"  fo  that,  according  to  the  burden  of  the  fhip,  there  may 
"  be  feveral  of  thefe  fereines,  each  of  feveral  days  dura- 
"  tion.  In  this  manner,  independent  of  accidental  im- 
"  pediments  from  wind  and  weather,  in  fending  the  goods 
"  from  the  (Lip,  it  maybe  fuppofed,  were  it  at  all  neceffa- 
"  ry  to  make  the  fuppofition,  that  the  porters,  not  only 
"  on  the  23d  of  June,  but  on  the  jth  and  8th  of  July, 
"  were  infefted  upon  opening  fome  new  bales.  As  to 
"  the  porter  being  infected  by  goods  from  another  fliip, 
"  Dr.  Pye  thinks  it  impofiible,  becaufe  the  fhip  had  been 
"  twelve  days  in  port,  and  the  goods  muft  have  been 
"  eight  or  nine  days  in  airing  and  purifying  :  had  he 
"  been  acquainted  with  the  practice  of  the  fereines  in. 
"  quarantine,  he  would  have  been  at  no  lofs  to  make  the 
"  accident  agree  exactly  with  his  notion  of  the  infectious 
"  aura.  .  .  .  The  plain  matter  of  fact,  as  it  ftands  in 
"  the  journal,  is  this,  that  fix  porters,  employed  in  pu- 
"  rifying  fufpected  merchandife  from  the  Levant,  died 
"  of  the  plague  ;  and  their  death  was  followed  by  that 
"  pf  the  furgeon  who  attended  them,  and  part  of  his 
"  family." 

From- 


248  A    TREATISE    ON 

From  this  the  reader  will  be  able  to  judge  how  far  the 
queflion  is  decided  in  favour  of  the  fact  that  the  plague 
at  Marfeilles  was  actually  produced  by  imported  con- 
tagion. It  feems  needlefs  to  follow  our  author  through 
his  inveftigation  ofthofe  facts  which  his  adverfaries  have 
mifreprefented  ;  for  thefe  mufl  of  courfe  be  in  his  favour; 
every  mifreprefentation  by  a  difputant  being  plainly  an 
abandonment  of  his  caufe.  Indeed  the  argument  againft 
contagion  at  that  time  was  properly  but  one,  and  is  fet 
forth  in  no  ftronger  language  now  than  formerly.  Eve*n 
as  long  ago  as  1665  Dr.  RufTeFquotes  one  Gadbury  an 
aflrologer  dating  the  difficulty  as  ftrongly,  and  giving  a 
folution  of  it  as  clearly,  upon  Us  principles,  as  the  ben; 
modern  theorifts  can  do  upon  theirs.  "  If  the  peftilence, 
"  (fays  Mr.  Gadbury)  be  infectious,  and  really  catching 
<c  in  itfelf,  it  muft  be  fo  equally  to  all  perfons  that 
"  approach  it,  or  that  it  approacheth  ;  or  elfe  it  muft  be 
"  infectious  to  fome  particular  perfons  only.  If  it  be 
"  infectious  to  all  perfons,  or  catching  to  all  alike,  then 
"  all  perfons,  that  come  into  the  fight  or  within  the  fcent 
"  of  it,  muft  neceffarily  be  fubjedl  unto  it.  If  not  in- 
"  fedlious  unto  all,  but  unto  fome  particular  perfons  on- 
<£  ly,  I  fay  then  it  ought  not  to  be  deemed  or  efteemed 
"  infedtious  at  all,  at  leaft  not  any  more  infectious  than 
"  are  all  other  difeafes,  viz.  fmall-pox,  fcurvy,  pleurify, 
"  ague,  gout;  &c.  fince  (though  the  notion  of  infedfcion- 
u  be  laid  afide)  there  is  not  a  perfon  born  into  the  world 
"  that  hath  not  at  fome  time  of  his  life  (as  his  nati~ 
*'  vity  (hall  truly  (how)  fome  one  difeafe  or  other.  Ne- 
<c  ver  was  any  perfon  fubjedl  to  violent  difeafes,  as  plague, 
"  &c.  but  had  a  violent  nativity  to  (how  it,  and  e  centra" 

Theanfwer  to  this  has  been  already  given. — Let  any 
other  caufe  than  contagion  or  infection  befuppofed,  and 
the  difficulty  remains  equally  great.  The  probability  is 
in  favour  of  contagion,  rather  than  a  general  difpofition 
of  the  atmofphere,  becaufe  in  the  latter  cafe  the  difeafe 
would,  contrary  to  experience,  begin  in  a  great  many 
places  at  once  ;  but  the  plague  begins  in  fuch  a  fecret 
manner  that  we  fcarce  know  whence  it  comes.  Like'fire, 
or  a  ferment  in  liquors,  it  diffufes  itfelf  far  and  wide,  and 

laftly, 


THE    PLAGUE. 

laftly,  like  an  immenfe  inundation,  the  fource  of  which  is 
dried  up,  it  feems  to  lofe  its  power  by  extending  too  far, 
and  dies  away  altogether.  We  cannot  penetrate  into 
the  caufes  of  thofe  things,  but,  without  any  fpeculation 
at  all,  we  can  obferve  that  the  difeafe  falls  upon  people 
of  a  certain  conftitution  more  than  others,  and  this  may 
be  of  ufe  in  preferving  ourfelves  from  it,  as  mall  be 
explained  in  the  next  fection. 

It  is  ftill  neceflary  to  fay  fomething  of  the  infection 
fpreading  from  one  perfon  to  another,  and  being  kept  off 
$y  refraining  from  communication  with  the  difeafed. 
This  indeed  natiirally  follows  from  its  proceeding  origi- 
nally from  the  cotton  :  for  as  all  the  infedled  did  not 
touch  this  cotton,  there  can  be  no  other  caufe  affigned 
from  its  fpreading  than  by  communication  from  one  to 
another  ;  and,  therefore,  if  fuch  communication  was  cut 
off,  we  ihould  naturally  think  that  the  difeafe  would  not 
fpread.  But,  in  oppofition  to  this,  we  have  already 
quoted  Dr.  Mofeley  giving  a  long  lift  of  convents  infe&ed, 
though  they  kept  themfelves  ftrictly  fhut  up.  Dr.  Ruf- 
fel  cites,  in  favour  of  prevention  by  fhutting  up,  two 
certificates,  one  by  the  bifliop  of  Marfeilles,  the  other 
by  the  fheriffof  the  fame  place.  To  thefe  he  adds  the 
teftimony  of  M.  Langeron,  who  was  actively  employed 
throughout  the  whole  time  that  the  plague  continued, 
firft  as  a  commodore  of  the  gallies,  and  afterwards  as 
governor  of  the  town  and  its  dependencies.  In  oppo- 
(ition  to  thefe,  however,  he  takes  notice  of  two  pafiages 
"  in  books  of  acknowledged  authority,"  which  he  is  at 
pains  to  anfwer  ;  the  one  is  from  the  Journal  already  quo- 
ted, which  fays,  "  and  what  is  unaccountable,  thofe 
"  who  have  fhut  thernfelves  up  moft  fecurely  in  their 
"  own  houies,  and  are  the  moft  careful  to  take  in  nothing 
"  without  the  moft  exact  precautions,  are  attacked  there 
"  by  the  plague,  which  creeps  in  no  one  Jcnows  how.'* 
The  other  paffage  is  taken  from  the  Relation  Hiftorique, 
"  that,  in  the  height  of  the  peftilence,  the  infection 
<c  penetrated  into  places  which  had  till  then  remained 
"  inacceffible ;  that  monafteries  and  houfes  (liut  up  in 
<c  the  moft  exact  manner  were  no  longer  places  of  fecu- 
I*  rity."  K  k  To 


A   TREATISE   ON 

To  the  former  of  thefe  our  author  anfwers,  that  "  from 
"  the  manner  of  ftating  the  cafe,  one  would  think  that 
"  all  thefe  religious  had  been  clofe  fhut  up,  without  any 
"  communication  with  perfons  without  doors;  and  this 
"  was  certainly  intended  by  an  author  who  has  made 
"  remarks  upon  it ;  but  it  will  be  found,  upon  looking 
<c  into  the  beginning  of  the  very  paragraph  cited,  that 
"  the  greateft  part  of  them  are  reprefented  as  martyrs 
"  who  had  meritorioufly  expofed  themfelves.  Of  the 
"  twelve  different  orders  mentioned  on  this  occafion, 
"the  Grand  Auguftines  only  are  faid  to  have  kept  in 
"  their  convent.  But,  fuppofing  the  Auguftin  convent 
"  to  have  been  actually  ihut  up,  and  in  that  ftate  in- 
"  feded  ;  it  would  by  no  means  invalidate  the  inftances 
"  brought  of  the  prefervation  of  the  convents,  the  cer- 
"  tificates  concerning  which  were  granted  deliberately, 
"  after  all  was  over  ;  whereas  the  journal,  written  from 
"  day  to  day,  marking  circumftances  rapidly  as  they 
"  occurred,  the  author,  amongft  various  other  affairs,  had 
"  not  always  leifure  or  opportunity  to  examine  minutely 
"  into  circumftances.  It  is  in  this  light  1  am  inclined 
€t  to  confider  the  houfes  being  infe&ed  which  took  in 
"  nothing  without  the  mod  exact  precautions  ;  and  the 
**  rather,  becaufe  I  met  with  feveral  inftances  of  the  like 
<c  kind  at  Aleppo,  in  the  houfes  of  the  Chriftian  and 
"  Jewifli  nations :  but  in  the  fequel  it  generally  appear- 
"  ed  there  had  been  fome  improper  communication  car- 
4C  ried  on  by  the  domeftics,  unknown  to  the  family  at 
"  the  time. 

"  That  the  atmofphere,  in  a  city  fo  dreadfully  cir- 
"  cumftanced  as  Marfeilles,  may  become  fo  highly 
"  tainted  as  to  convey  the  plague  into  houfes  fliut  up, 
"  cannot  confiftently  be  affirmed  to  be  impoffible,  by 
*£  thofe  who  hold  mediate  contagion  -y  and  the  concur- 
"  rence  of  circumftances  at  that  period  in  Marfeilles,  ren- 
"  ders  it  highly  probable  that  fuch  accidents  happened. 
cc  But,  in  general,  the  peftiferous  effluvia  once  emitted 
"  into  the  air,  do  not  appear  to  operate  at  any  great 
ct  diftance  from  their  fource  -,  and  M.  Deidier  afferts, 
6C  that  two  monafteries  (from  their  Situation,  one  near  a 

"  burial 


THE   PLAGUE.  251 

<c  burial  ground,  the  other  near  a  peft-houfe)  very  dan- 
cc  geroufly  fituated,  remained  neverthelefs  untouched, 
"which  he  thinks  an  argument  againft  infection  being 
"  conveyed  by  the  air." 

From  this  long  and  contefted  account  of  the  manner 
in  which  the  plague  was  received  into  Marfeilles,  we  fee 
how  very  difficult  it  muffc  be  to  come  at  a  true  ftate  of 
fads,  when  a  number  of  people  think  it  their  intereft  to 
mifreprefent  or  conceal  them.  The  limits  of  this  trea- 
tife  will  not  allow  us  to  follow  our  author  through  the 
numerous  details  of  mifreprefentations  and  unfair  me- 
thods which  the  adverfaries  of  the  doctrine  of  contagion 
have  made  ufe  of  to  eftablifh  their  opinion  :  neither 
Ihall  we  enter  into  any  difcuffion  concerning  the  origin 
of  other  plagues,  as  we  fhould  in  them  find  the  fame 
oppofite  kinds  of  evidence  without  fuch  documents  for 
diftinguifliing  the  true  from  the  falfe  as  Dr.  RuiTel  has 
produced  in  the  cafe  of  Marfeilles.  A  fingle  fact  only, 
mentioned  by  Mr.  Howard  in  his  Treatife  on  Lazaret- 
tos, fhall  be  related,  and  which,  if  allowed  to  be/<z<57, 
decides  the  queftion  as  effectually  as  a  thoufand. 

"  When  the  plague  raged  at  London  in  1665,  it  was 
"  conveyed  to  the  remote  village  of  Eyam  near  Tidefwell 
"  in  Derbyshire.  In  this  place  it  broke  out  in  Septem- 
"  ber  1 665,  and  continued  its  ravages  upwards  of  a  year, 
"  when  two  hundred  and  fifty  of  the  inhabitants  had 
"  died  of  it.  The  worthy  rector,  Mr.  Mompeflbn, 
sc  whofe  name  may  rank  with  thofe  of  Cardinal  Borro- 
"  meo  of  Milan,  and  the  good  bifhop  of  Marfeilles,  at 
"  its  breaking  out,  refolved  not  to  quit  his  parifliiorters, 
"  but  ufed  every  argument  with  his  wife  to  quit  the  in- 
*'  fefted  fpot.  She,  however,  refufed  to  forfake  her  hu£* 
<c  band,  and  is  fuppofed  to  have  died  of  the  plague. 
"  They  fent  away  their  children.  Mr.  Mompeffon  con- 
"  ftantly  employed  himfelf,  during  the  dreadful  vifita- 
"  tion,  HI  his  paftoral  office,  and  preached  to  his  flock 
*'  in  a  field,  where  nature  had  formed  a  fort  of  alcove 
"  in  a  rock,  which  place  ftill  retains  the  appellation  of 
"  a  church.  He  furvived,  and  the  entries  in  the  parifh 
"  regifter  relative  to  this  calamity  are  in  his  own  hand 
£  writing,  vis*  In 


2Sz  A    TREATISE    ON 

In   1665,-  Sept.  :  Died  6         1666*    May      Died   5 

'Oct.  22  June  20 

Nov,  ,.5  July  ,53 

Dec.  7  Aug,  78 

t66§   Jan.  3  Sept.  14 

Feb.  5  Oct.  17 

March  z  Nov.  i 

April  12 

This  plague  is  faid  to  have  afifen  from  a  box  of 
clothes  fentfrom  London  while  the  diftemper  was  at  its 
height  in  that  city.  But  whether  this  be  admitted  or 
not,  it  cannot  well  be  fuppofed  that  in  a  fmall  village 
there  could  either  be  a  peculiar  confutation  of  the  air, 
collections  of  filth,  immoderate  heat,  cold,  or  in  fhort 
any  general  caufe  from  which,  a  pi-ague  could  be  fup- 
pofed to  arife,  that  would  not  have  affected  the  country 
for  a  great  way  round.  How  then  came  this  infulated 
fpdt  to  be To  violently  affe&ed,  except  by  contagion  ? 
No  matter  whether  by  clothes  or  any  thing  elfe.  The 
very  particular  manner  in  which  the  numbers  who 
died  are  recorded,  leaves  no  doubt  as  to  the  fa&  of  the 
diftemper  .haying  been  there  ;  neither  is  it  poffible  to 
account  for  its  rife  on  any  other  principle 'than  con- 
tagion. 

Mr.  Howard,  previous  to  his  going  abroad,  had  been 
furnimed,  by  Dr.  Aikin  and  Dr.  Jebb,  with  a  fet  of 
queries  relative  to  the  plague,  to  be  put  to  the  phyfi- 
cians  in  the  different  countries  through  which  he  tra- 
velled, This  comrnifilon  he  executed  with  great  fide- 
lity and  exaclnefs.  The  phyficians  to  whom  he  pro- 
pofed  them  were,  Raymond  of  Marfeilles,  phylicianj 
DemoH'ms  of  do.  furgeon  j  Giovanelli,  phyiician  to  the 
lazaretto  at  Leghorn;  They,  to  do.  at  Malta  ;  Morandi, 
phyfician  at  Venice  ;  fardom,  at  Triefle  j  Jew  phyfi- 
cian  at  Smyrpa ;  Fra.  Luigi  dl  Pavia,  prior  to  the  hof- 
pital  of  San  Antonio  at  Smyrna.  The  queflions  pro-r 
pofed  were  as  follow  : 

i.  Is  the  infedion  of  the  plague  frequently  received 
by  the  French  ? 

Though 


THE.  PLAGUE.  253 

Though,  this  was  not  asking  in  direct  terms  whether 
the  plague  is  infeftious  or  not,  all  to  whom  it  was  pro- 
pofed  Teem  to  have  viewed  it  in  this  light,  Raymond  of 
Marfeilles  only  excepted,  who  anfwered  diredly,  "  Some- 
times it  is."  All  the  reft,  except  Giovaneiii,  agreed  that  it 
might  be  communicated  by  the  touch,  or  by  the  breath. 
Verdoni  gave  an  inftance  of  its  being  communicated  by 
a  flower  which  three  perfons  fmelt  at  j  two  remained 
free,  but  the  third  fickened  and  died  in  twenty-four 
hours. 

2.  Does  the  plague  ever  rife  fpontaneoufly  ? 

In  this  Verdoni  alone  anfwered  positively  in  favour  of 
the  fpontaneous  rife  of  the  plague.  They  fpoke  ambi- 
guoufly. 

3.  To  what  diftance  is  the  air  infecled  ?     How  far 
does  actual  contact,  wearing  infedl'ed  clothes,  or  touch- 
ing other  things,  produce  the  difeafe  ? 

To  this  queftion  Verdoni  anfwered  in  a  manner  feem- 
ingly  inconfiftent  with  his  former  anfwer  j  allowing  not 
only  that  the  plague  was  infectious,  but  that  infected 
things  might  communicate  the  difeafe  after  an  interval 
of  many  years*  All  agreed  that  the  ftrength  of  the  in- 
fection was  greater  or  lefs  according  to  circumftances  ; 
the  diftance  at  which  it  could  act  was  likewife  uncertain. 
Raymond  faid  that  the  fick  might  be  fafely  converfed 
with,  acrofs  a  barrier,  at  a  few  paces  diftance ;  the  Jew 
faid  at  two  ells  diftance,  provided  the  chamber  windows 
be  not  all  (hut.  Giovanelli  faid  it  had  been  proved  that 
the  infection  did  not  extend  beyond  five  geometrical 
paces.  The  touch  of  infected  clothes,  or  drawing  in 
the  breath  of  the  fick,  was  looked  upon  by  him  an3 
Fra.  Luigi  to  be  very  dangerous. 

4.  What  are  the  feafons  in  which  the  plague  chiefly 
appears ;  and  what  is  the  interval  between  the  infection 
and  the  difeafe  ? 

To  this  it  was  anfwered  by  Raymond,  that  the  two 
folftices  are  the  times  in  which  it  has  leaft  power.  The 
others  agreed  that  hot  and  moift  weather  was  favourable 
to  its  ravages ;  the  fpring,  fummer  and  firft  month  of 
autumn  are  dreaded.  Thefe  circumftances,  however, 

rauft 


A   TREATISE   ON 

muft  be  variable  in  different  countries.  As  to  the  time 
in  which  the  infe&ion  (hows  itfelf,  the  anfwer  was  vari- 
ous. According  to  They,  it  "  fometimes  a&s  flowly, 
fometimes  like  a  Jlroke  of  lightning"  According  to 
Verdoni,  "  the  difeafe  generally  fhows  itfelf  at  the  in- 
ftant  of  touch,  like  an  eleflricalJJiock"  Sometimes  the 
infection  will  be  communicated  from  a  fick  perfon  to  a 
found  one,  who  without  any  difeafe  may  communicate 
it  to  a  fecond,  and  that  fee  end  to  a  third,  in  whom  alone 
it  would  become  a&ive. 

The  other  queftions,  relative  to  the  fymptoms,  pre- 
vention and  cure  of  the  diftemper,  will  be  taken  notice  of 
in  the  courfe  of  the  treatife.  In  the  mean  time  having 
difcuffed,  with  a  prolixity  almoft  exceeding  our  bounds, 
fuch  preliminaries  as  feemed  moft  likely  to  throw  fome 
light  on  the  nature  of  the  diftemper,  we  (hall  now  pro- 
ceed to  the  medical  hiftory  of  the  plague,  as  we  find  it 
laid  down  in  different  authors. 

Though  this  diftemper  has  moft  frequently  been  ac- 
counted a  fever  in  the  higheft  degree,  yet,  as  we  have  al- 
ready noticed,  it  feems  to  be  elfentially  different.*  The 
teftimonies  there  quoted  are  fufficient  to  eftablifh  the 
fad ;  and,  were  it  needful,  many  others  might  be  brought 
from  authors  both  ancient  and  modern.  In  the  plague 
faid  to  have  taken  place  in  the  days  of  Romulus,-}*  Plu- 
tarch relates,  that  the  people  died  without  any  ficknefs. 
To  this  very  ancient  teftimony  we  fhall  add  that  of  Dr. 
Patrick  Ruffe],  who  clofes  the  account  of  his  firft  clafs 
of  patients  with  the  following  paragraph  :  "  That  the 
"  plague,  under  a  form  of  all  others  the  moft  deftruc- 
"  tive,  exifts  without  its  charaderiftic  eruptions,  or 
"  other  external  marks  reckoned  peftilential,  can  admit 
"  of  no  doubt ;  and  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  mankind 
**  have  fo  often,  from  the  abfence  of  thefe,  been  betrayed 
"  into  errors  of  fatal  confequence  on  its  firft  invafion ; 
*<  at  which  early  period  human  prudence  can  only  be 
<c  exerted  in  the  way  of  defence  with  any  probability 
"  of  fuccefs." 

The 

*  See  p,  102  ftf'1*  f  P.  i9»  note* 


THE   PLAGUE.  255 

The  fymptoms  of  this  fatal  difeafe  were  fometimes  a 
ftidden  lofs  of  ftrength,  confufionor  weight  in  the  h.ad, 
giddinefs  at  intervals,  oppreffion  about  the  pvsecordia, 
deje&ion  of  fpirits,  taciturnity,  an  anxious  afpect,  but 
without  any  fymptoms  of  fever.  In  thefe,  death  enfued 
within  twenty -four  hours ;  fome  were  faid  to  have  died 
within  a  few  hours,  but  our  author  faw  none  of  thefe, 
and  is  inclined  to  doubt  the  truth  of  the  accounts,  hav- 
ing in  feveral  inftances,  where  this  is  faid  to  have  hap- 
pened, found  upon  inquiry  that  matters  had  been  inac- 
curately flated,  and  that  the  patients  had  really  been  ill 
one  or  two  days. 

In  others  the  diforder  was  more  perceptible.  In  a 
few  hours  the  eyes  became  muddy,  the  furface  of  the 
body  cold,  with  drowfinefs,  lethargy,  and  pain  at  the 
heart.  In  the  progrefs  of  the  diftemper  they  frequently 
loft  the  power  of  fpeech,  the  ikin  feldom  recovered  its 
warmth,  or,  if  it  did,  it  was  only  by  irregular  flufhings. 
The  pulfe  fometimes  remained  nearly  in  its  natural  ftate, 
but  was,  for  the  moft  part,  low  and  quick.  They  were 
by  turns  delirious,  confufed  and  fenfible,  but  the  coma* 
tofe  difpofition  was  moft  prevalent.  Towards  the 
end  they  fuffered  extreme  inquietude.  Vomiting  in 
fome  occurred  the  firft  night ;  in  others  a  diarrhoea 
next  day  ;  both  accelerating  the  fatal  period ;  but 
thefe  fymptoms  were  lefs  frequent  than  in  fome  of  the 
"  other  daffes.  Buboes  appeared  only  in  a  very  few 
"  who  furvived  the  third  day.  .  .  .  The  total  abfence 
"  of  buboes  in  fuch  patients  as  perifhed  fuddenly  I  have 
"  no  doubt  of,  nor  of  their  being  in  general  very  rare  in 
"  others  of  this  clafs ;  though  I  fufpect  that  the  buboes 
"  might  fometimes  have  been  concealed,  where  the  dif- 
"  eafe  ran  out  to  the  fourth  or  fifth  day,  and  for  the 
"  fame  reafon  that  the  reports  concerning  the  ftate  of 

"  the  corpfe  were  fometimes  not  true It  was 

"  very  rare  to  find  fufpicious  marks  of  infection  on  the 

"  bodies  [of  thofe  who  died  within  24  hours] 

"  Carbuncles  were  feldom  vifible  till  the  month  of  May, 
"  which  was  later  than  this  form  of  the  difeafe.  It  pre- 
"  vailed  chiefly  at  the  rife  of  the  plague  in  1 760,  and 

its 


A    TREATFSE    ON 

«'  its  revival  in  the  two  Fucceeding  years,  decreafing,  as 
<c  the  diftemper  fpread  ;  and  though  they  were  found 
"  difperfed  in  every  ftage  of  the  peftiicntial  feafon,  yet 
"  the  number  of  this  clafs  was  proportionably  frnaU, 
"  compared  with  that  of  others.  Petechiae,  vibices,  or 
"  broad,  livid,  roundifh  fpots,  occurred  fometimes,  but 
"  were  not  common,  and  the  two  latter  were  feldom  vi- 
«  fible  till  after  death." 

This  account  of  the  moft  malignant  form  of  the  pefti- 
lence  differs  considerably  from  that  of  Dr.  Hodges,  who 
leems  to  think  that  the  tokens,  as  he  calls  them,  very 
generally  were  to  be  found  on  the  bodies  of  thofe  who 
died  fuddenly.  He  mentions  indeed  a  young  man  who 
was  fuddenly  feized  with  a  violent  palpitation  of  the 
heart,  and  thus  continued  till  his  death,  which  took 
place  in  a  few  hours.  In  this  cafe  the  Doctor  fuppofed 
that  there  might  be  a  carbuncle  broke  out  on  the  heart. 
Dr.  Ruflel  has  confidered  the  defcription  of  the  tokens 
given  by  Dr.  Hodges,  and  compared  it  with  that  of 
others  called  by  Diemerbroeck  macula  mortis,  fpots  or 
tokens  of  death ;  and  by  this  companion  it  appears  that 
the  former  has  fpoken  fomewhat  indiftinctly  on  the  fub- 
jec"l,  confounding  two  different  kinds  of  eruptions  to- 
gether. Dr.  Hodges,  however,  as  we  have  already  feen 
(p.  10)  aflerts,  in  his  Lcimologla^  that  the  tokens  rife  from 
within,  and  are  broadeftat  their  bafes,  where  he  alfo  fup- 
pofes  the  peftilential  poifon  chiefly  to  lie;  To  the  fame 
purpofc,  in  his  Letter  to  a  Perfon  of  Quality  he  fays, 
"  The  tokens  have  their  original' and  rife  from  witbin, 
"  and  afterwards  externally  fhow  themfelves;  which  is 
"  evident,  becaufe  the  bafis  of  them  is  larger  than  their 
"  outward  appearance,  and  the  internal  parts  are  found 
"  very  often  fpotted,  when  there  is  no  difcoloration 
"  vifible  on  the  {kin."  Dr.  Ruflel,  after  quoting  Die- 
inerbroeck,  makes  the  following  obfervations :  "  The 
"  author  (Diemerbroeck)  is  diffufe  on  this  fubjecl:,  and 
"  thinks  it  a  miftaken  though  prevalent. notion,  that  the 
"  macula?  are  merely  fuperficial  in  the  {kin,  proceeding 
"  from  putrefaction,  ebullition,  &c.  in  the  blood  or  hu- 
<*  mours  :  on  the  contrary  he  affirms,  they  arife  from  the 

"  internal 


THE  PLAGUE.  257 

"  internal  parts,  even  the  periofteum,  broad  at  the  bafe, 
"  and  tapering  to  their  termination  in  the  ikin,  being 
"  produced  by  the  extinction  and  extravafation  of  the  vi- 
"  tal  fpirits.  Now  (fays  Dr.  RutTel)  this  anfwers  exact- 
"  ly  to  one  fpecies  of  the  tokens  defcribed  by  Hodges, 
"  which  therefore  may  be  reckoned  the  fame  with  the 
"  macula  mortis.,  and  was  probably  the  only  one  obferved 
"  at  Nimeguen,"  &c.  On  the  fame  fubjed  he  quotes 
a  book  entitled  Medela  Peftis,  in  which  the  author  fays 
that  by  careful  direction  the  tokens  may  be  traced  half* 
way  deep  in  the  flefh,  and  fome,  in  the  mufcles  of  the 
bread,  have  been  followed  by  the  incilion  knife  even  to 
the  bone*  By  the  directions  given  by  authority  to  the 
fearchers  in  1665,  they  were  ordered  to  look  narrowly  for 
thefe  tokens,  which  were  defcribed  as  "  fpots  arifing  on 
"  the  fkin,  chiefly  about  the  breaft  and  back,  but  fome- 
"  times  alfo  in  other  parts.  Their  colour  is  fomething 
"  various,  fometimes  more  reddifh,  fometimes  inclining 
"  a  little  towards  a  faint  blue,  and  fometimes  a  brownilh 
"  mixed  with  blue  $  the  red  ones  have  often  a  brownifh 
f(  circle  about  them,  the  brownifh  a  reddim." 

On  the  fubjed  of  tokens  Dr.  Hodges  further  ob- 
ferves,  that  they  differed  alfo  in  their  degrees  of  hard- 
nefs,  fome  being  eafily  penetrated  with  a  needle  or 
penknife,  while  others,  more  callous  or  horny,  were 
penetrated  with  more  difficulty.  They  fo  ftrongly 
refembled  warte,  that  they  could  fcarce  be  diftingu'fhed 
from  them  5  and  Dr.  Hodges  himfelf  was  often  obliged 
to  have  recourle  to  a  needle  for  this  purpofe.  They 
feemed  hard  to  the  touch,  not  unlike  kernels  under  the 
fkin,  the  fuperfices  being  fmooth.  "  When  1  eflayed 
to  prove  fome  of  them  (fays  he)  I  found  them  almo/l 
impenetrable"  Another  very  remarkable  circumfbnce 
relative  to  them  was,  that  they  were  often  quite  infen- 
fible,  and  this  cliftinguithed  them  from  the  carbuncle, 
which  is  always  very  painful.  Hodges  alfo  remarks, 
that  a  quick  fenfibility  in  the  ikin  was  always  a  good 
fign,  and  thofe  that  went  no  farther  than  the  ikin  would 
fometimes  Hough  off. 

if  1  Along 


258  A   TREATISE    ON 

Along  with  thefe  tokens  we  can  fcarce  doubt  that 
petechi*  and  vibices  made  their  appearance.  The  for- 
mer, even  in  the  inferior  degrees  of  the  d  idem  per,  were 
dangerous,  the  latter  always  fatal,  never  appearing  till 
the  patient  is  within  a  few  hours  of  death,  fometimes  in- 
deed not  till  death  has  taken  place.  Of  the  petechi«  Dr. 
Ruflel  (ays,  that  for  the  moft  part  they  predicted  death, 
but  not  without  exception.  Such  as  he  obferved  were 
round,  fomewhat  fmaller  than  a  recent  flea-bite.  They 
were  diftincl,  few  in  number,  and  fcattered  irregularly 
about  the  bread  and  maftoid  mutcles.  When  they  did 
not  appear  till  the  approach  of  death,  they  were  from 
the  fird  livid,  or  very  duiky  ;  but  if  they  appeared  early, 
they  were  of  a  lefs  deep  colour,  changing  afterwards  to 
livid.  Hodges  fpeaks  of  them  as  deeper  coloured  than 
the  fpots  of  maiignant  fever,  not  fixed  in  any  particular 
fpot,  fometimes  few,  but  commonly  very  numerous ;  the 
colour  fometimes  red  or  purple,  fometimes  yellow,  and 
fometimes  livid  or  black.  From  Gotwald,  RuiTel  quotes 
a  defcription  of  thefe  fpots,  which  he  divides  into  four 
fpecies.  i.  Redd ifh,  like  flea-bites,  foon  growing  brown 
or  black  j  appearing  on  all  parts  of  the  body  except  the 
face,  2.  In  the  form  of  lentils,  fpreading  like  the  former 
all  over  the  body;  ruddy  at  fird,  but  in  24 hours  growing 
dark  orafh-coloured.  3.  Large  brown  fpots,  fcattered 
here  and  there,  fometimes  intermixed  with  the  lentil  kind. 
4.  Not  unlike  the  meafles,  fpreading  all  over  the  body, 
riling  afterwards  in  fmall  blifters  without  any  matter, 
vanifhihg  about  the  fifth  day.  Ruflel  alfo  takes  notice 
of  a  fpecies  of  petechias  which  were  very  numerous,  con- 
fluent, and  of  a  dark  red  or  dufky  colour  and  irregular 
figure.  Thefe  were  fometimes  remarked  in  the  inter- 
dices  of  the  former.  Such  inflances  occurred  but  rarely. 

The  vibices  were  much  larger  than  the  petechi^. 
Gotwald  fays  that  they  covered  the  face  as  high  as  the 
nofe,  and  from  thence  fpread  to  the  forehead,  disfiguring 
the  patient  in  a  frightful  manner.  They  did  not  appear 
till  a  ihort  time  before  death.  Often  they  appeared  un- 
expectedly, (hooting  up  like  lightning  from  the  bread 
to  the  face,  in  fpots  of  various  colours,  blue,  green,  brown 

and 


THE    PLAGUE.  259 

and  yellow.  Diemerbroeck  defcribes  them  as  oblong 
fpots  of  a  livid  or  black  colour,  like  ftrokes  drawn  with  a 
pen  ;  fometimes  they  were  larger,  the  biggeft  refembling 
the  ftrokes  of  a  whip.  Ruffe  1  takes  notice  of  a  kind  of 
marbled  appearance  which  took  place  at  the  height  of 
the  difeafe,  or  a  few  hours  before  death  ;  the  colours  be- 
ing a  faint  blue,  and  darkifh  red,  both  more  or  lefs  ob~ 
(cure  at  times,  but  never  bright.  It  was  not  permanent, 
vaniming  in  one  place,  without  leaving  any  trace,  and 
returning  at  fhort  intervals.  "  The  fkin  in  various  pla- 
"  ces  was  fometimes  deformed  by  narrow  ftreaks  of  red- 
"  dim  purple,  or  livid  colour.  When  fuch  took  pofTef- 
"  fion  of  the  face  they  gave  a  frightful  appearance  to  the 
cc  countenance,  and  frequently  made  fuch  an  alteration 
<c  in  the  features,  and  fo  completely  difguifed  the  patient, 
"  as  to  render  him  hardly  knowable  by  his  acquaintance. 
"  A  ftreak  nearly  of  the  fame  kind  was  fometimes  obferv- 
"  ed  darting  from  the  edges  of  the  buboes  and  carbun- 
"  cles.  The  vibices  or  weals  were  much  longer  and 
xc  broader,  and  more  exactly  refembled  the  marks  left  in 
"  the  fleihy  parts  by  blows  or  ftripes  ;  they  were  found 
"  chiefly  on  the  thighs,  buttock,  and  back,  and  made 
"  their  appearance  feveral  hours  before  death,  in  feme 
"  cafes,  but  in  others  not  till  after.  Large  blue  or  pur- 
"  pie  fpots,  the  macula  magn<e  of  authors,  were  fome- 
<c  times  obferved  with  or  without  the  vibices,  a  little 
"  while  before  the  patient  expired,  but  moil  commonly 
c<  were  difcovered  only  on  the  corpfe.  Their  figure  in 
<c  general  was  round,  fometimes  irregular." 

Whether  all  theft  mortal  figns  appeared  on  fuch  as 
died  very  fuddenly  of  plagues,  and  were  by  the  Englifli 
writers  confounded  under  the  general  name  o^  tokens y 
cannol  certainly  be  determined.  Dr.  RufTel  faw  none 
who  died  within  the  twenty-four  hours,  and  few  who  di- 
ed within  thirty  hours,  fo  that  we  cannot  from  him  ex- 
pect any  particular  account  of  the  fituation  of  thofe  who 
died  fuddenly.  In  general,  however,  he  fays,  that  "  in 
.cc  the  mod  deftrudive  forms  of  the  plague,  the  vital 
"  principle  feems  to  be  fuddenly,  as  it  were,  extinguish- 
^  ed>  or  elfe  enfeebled  to  a  degree  capable  only  for  a  fliort 

"  while 


260  A    TREATISE    ON 

"  while  to  refiftthe  violence  of  the  difeafe  ;  in  the  fub- 
u  ordinate  forms,  the  vital  and  animal  functions,  vari- 
"  oufly  affected,  are  carried  on  in  a  defective,  diforderly 
"  manner,  and  denote  more  or  lefs  danger  accordingly." 
It  teems  probable  therefore  that  in  thofe  who  are  fudden- 
ly  killed,  the  fame  effects  take  place  in  a  fhort  time  which 
are  obferved  to  take  place  after  a  longer  fpace  in  thofe 
who  die  gradually,  buboes  only  excepted,  which  require 
for  their  formation  a  longer  time  than  is  allowed  to  the 
patient  to  live.  Internal  mortifications,  or  rather  efchars, 
are  therefore  to  be  fufpected,  and  directions  have  evinced 
that  this  was  really  the  cafe  ;  but  befides  thefe  there 
was  an  appearance  obferved  in  the  plague  at  Marfeilles 
which  is  not  taken  notice  of  by  former  phyiicians  ;  viz* 
a  preternatural  enlargement  oif  the  heart.  M.  Deidier 
on  that  occafion  communicated  an  account  of  nine  dif- 
fections,  but  of  thefe  only  one  had  died  without  erup- 
tions. This  was  a  woman  of  40  years  of  age,  who  lived 
till  the  third  day.  In  her  «  the  mediaftinum*  was  torn 
**  towards  the  upper  part  ;  the  pericardium  of  a  livid  co- 
*'  lour  5  the  heart  larger  than  in  its  natural  {late,  by  the 
<c  fweilingof  its  ventricles  j  full  of  thick,  black  blood. 
(C  The  liver  was  alfo  very  large,  and  of  a  livid  colour,  witli 
"  a  carbuncular  puftule  on  the  fide  of  the  gall-bladder, 
^  which  was  filled  with  very  black  bile."  In  others 
who  had  eruptions,  and  who  of  confequence  we  muft 
fuppofe  to  have  lived  longer,  the  enlargement  of  the 
heart  was  (till  more  remarkable.  In  one  who  lived 
eleven  days,  the  heart  was  of  double  the  bignefs,  having 
fcarce  any  blood  in  the  ventricles,  whofe  cavities  were 
filled  each  with  a  large  polypus,  that  on  the  right  fide 
having  dilated  the  auricle  to  the  breadth  of  four  inches. 
The  liver  alfo  was  larger  than  ordinary,  and  the  gall- 
bladder full  of  a  black  and  green  bile.  The  appearances 
were  much  the  fame  in  all  the  reft  ;  but,  as  the  time 

they 

*  The  Mediaftinum  is  a  membrane  by  which  the  cavity  of  the  bread  is  lon- 
gitudinally divided.  The  tearing  of  it  in  any  difeafe  feems  altogether  unac- 
countable* unlefs  we  fuppofe  an  extraordinary  lols  of  cohefion  to  have  taken 
place  without  any  mortification.  The  pericardium  is  a  membrane  (unround  - 
ing  the  heart,  and  in  a  naturaj  ftate  contains  fome  water,  condeiifed  from  va- 
pour after  death. 


THE   PLAGUE.  261 

they  fuftained  the  difeafe  is  not  mentioned,  we  cannot 
determine  whether  the  enlargement  of  the  heart  took 
place  at  the  very  firft,  or  was  only  an  adventitious  fymp- 
tom  after  the  fever  had  come  on.  Dr.  Ruflel  takes 
notice  that  fuch  patients  as  he  attended  complained 
greatly  of  their  heart.  "  A  fenfe  of  oppreffion  about  Jhe 
"  praecordia  (fays  he)  which  the  fick  were  at  a  lofs  to 
"  defcribe,  was,  in  one  degree  or  other,  a  conftant  at- 
*c  tendant  on  the  plague,  except  in  very  flight  cafes  of 
"  infection  ;  and  where  it  came  on  early,  or  perfifted  in 
t(  a  high  degree,  was  always  a  dangerous  fymptom. 
"  The  fick  fhowed  how  feverely  they  fufFered  by  their 
"  perpetually  changing  their  poflure,  in  hopes  of  relief; 
"  but,  when  aflced  where  their  pain  lay,  they  either  an- 
"  fwered  haftily  they  could  not  tell,  or,  with  a  fixed,  wild 
."  look,  exclaimed  kulbi  !  kulbi!  (my  heart !  my  heart !) 
"  This  anxiety  increasing  as  the  difeafe  advanced,  ter- 
"  minated  at  length  in  mortal  inquietude,  the  patient, 
"  for  many  hours,  in  the  laft  ftages,  inceflantly  writhing 
"  his  body  and  limbs  as  if  in  agony.  Though  pain  at 
"  the  heart  was  often  conjoined  with  the  fymptom  juft 
"  mentioned,  and  by  the  fick  feemingly  blended  together, 
"  it  appeared  to  be  different,  and  to  exift  feparately. 
"  They  often  exclaimed  as  in  the  other,  my  heart !  my 
"  heart !  pointing  alfo  towards  the  fcrobiculum  cordis, 
<e  but  then  would  add  eujam  kulbi ^  my  heart  pains  me ; 
"  or  naar  fi  kulbi,  my  heart  is  on  fire.'*  This  laft  pain 
the  Doctor  fuppofes  might  have  its  feat  in  the  upper  ori- 
fice of  the  ftomach  ;  the  extreme  anxiety  may  be  ac- 
counted for  from  the  enlargement  of  the  heart  ;  but  as 
neither  of  thefe  fymptoms  took  place  in  fuch  as  died  in 
a  very  fliort  time,  we  muft  be  apt  to  confider  this  enlarge- 
ment not  as  any  primary  and  efTential  fymptom  of  the 
difeafe,  but  as  one  which  takes  place  when  the  vital  pow- 
ers are  able  tooppofe  for  fome  confiderable  time  the  caufe 
of  the  difeafe. 

In  his  account  of  the  origin  of  the  plague,  Dr.  Ruf- 
fel  takes  notice  of  the  opinion  that,  at  the  communica? 
tion  of  the  infection,  the  fick  were  fometimes  fenfible  of 
having  received  it.  This  has  been  obferved  by  Dr  Lind 

in 


A   TREATISE-  ONr 

in  malignant  fevers  ;  it  has  alfo  been  obferved  in  plague?, 
as  we  have  Teen  from  Dr.  Hodges,  Verdoni,  and  others ; 
but  RufFel  fays  he  never  faw  any  inftance  of  this.  He 
owns,  however,  that  he  has  feen  inftances  of  the  difeafe 
quickly  fucceeding  a  panic  fear  of  being  infected.  "  In 
"  cafes  (fays  he)  where  the  difeafe  was  not  difcovered  to 
"  be  the  plague,  till  upon  the  eruption  of  buboes  after 
"  two  or  three  days,  I  have  known  feveral  perfons  who 
"  had,  till  then,  without  the  leaft  fufpicicn,  frequented 
"  the  fick,  ftruck  fuddenly  with  a  panic,  and  imagine 
"  themfelves  ill.  They  felt  (hooting  pains  in  their 
"  groins,  confufion  in  the  head,  and  a  loathing.  Though 
4C  in  fome  thefe  complaints  were  merely  imaginary,  and 
"  foon  vanifhed,  in  others  they  proved  real ;  the  fymp- 
c<  toms  increafing,  and  being  followed  by  eruptions.  In 
*c  fuch  cafes  I  fufpe&ed  the  latent  infection  to  have 
"  been  excited  by  terror." 

In  the  inftance  formerly  quoted  from  Dr.  Guthrie  at 
Peterfburg,  we  have  a  notable  example  of  this  fudden 
feizure  by  a  ilroke.  His  information  was  derived  from 
the  phyfician-general  of  the  Ruffian  army.  This  gen- 
tleman allured  him,  that  "  he  had  feen  men,  in  appa- 
*'  rent  good  health,  inftantaneouily  drop  down,  as  if  (hot 
"  by  a  mufket  ball,  by  the  fudden  action  of  the  peftife- 
"  rous  miafma,  and  upon  duty  again  in  24  hours,  per- 
*'  fectly  recovered  by  the  operation  of  a  flrong  vomit." 
Whether  or  not  thefe  mtnfe/t  any  ftroke  at  the  inftant 
cf  their  falling  we  are  not  told  :  poffibly  it  might  be 
only  a  fyncope  very  common  in  the  plague,  which  took 
place  at  the  very  firft  invafion.  RulTel  informs  us,  that 
'<  the  fudden  lofs  of  ftrength,  and  diftu/bance  of  the 
fc  functions  attributed  to  the  brain  and  heart,  are  rec- 
*<  koned,  in  a  particular  manner,  fymptoms  of  the  plague. 
"  In  their  higheft  degree  they  diftinguifh  the  meft  fatal 
*£  forms  of  thedifeaS  ;  and,  under  different  modifica- 
"  tions,  adhere  to  all  its  varieties.  .  .  .  The  early  ap- 
<e  pearance  of  faintnefs  was  very  remarkable  in  the 
Ci  plague,"  &c. 

Thus  we  fee  that  the  plague  attacks  without  fever  in 
two  different  modes- 5  one,  by  attacking  and  deftroying 

the 


THE    PLAGUE.  263 

the  folid  parts  of  the  body,  the  other,  without  any  dif- 
organization  of  the  body,  attacking  the  vital  principle 
itfelf,  or  rather  the  blood,  from  which  this  principle  is 
derived,  fo  that  a  temporary  fufpeniion  of  all  the  func- 
tions enfues.  The  analogy  between  the  caufe  of  pefti- 
lence  and  thofe  vifiblefubftances  called  poifiws,  is  very  re- 
markable in  fome  things,  though  in  others  it  totally  fails. 
In  the  Medical  Repofitory  *  we  have  a  differtation  upon 
this  analogy  by  Dr.  Edward  Miller.  He  obferves,  that 
this  analogy  has  been  generally  overlooked,  chiefly  on 
account  of  the  invifible  nature  of  the  aerial  poifon,  and 
the  fuddennefs  of  death  from  poifons,  more  frequently 
than  from  peftilential  diieafes.  This  he  accounts  for 
from  the  largenefs  of  the  dofe  of  poifons  compared  with 
that  of  contagion  ;  "  but  (fays  he)  by  diminifliing  the 
"  quantity  to  an  appropriate  amount,  thefe  noxious  fub- 
"  fiances  (the  poifons)  may  be  made  to  exhibit  the 
*s  courfe,  duration,  and  nearly  all  the  phenomena,  of 
"  what  is  called  a  malignant  fever.  But,  above  all,  the 
"  attention  of  phyficians  has  been  diverted  from  this 
"  analogy  between  miafmata  and  poifons,  by  the  febrile 
"  part  of  the  character  which  generally  belongs  to  pefti- 
ct  lential  diieafes,  and  which,  in  common  apprehenfion, 
"  is  conftantly  connected  with  them.  Yet  thefe  difea- 
<£  fes  are  by  no  means  univerfally  accompanied  with  what 
"  is  ftrictly  called  fever.  There  is  often  a  degree  of 
"  virulence  in  the  Afiatic  plague,  in  the  yellow  fever, 
-ec  and  in  all  the  other  forms  of  peftilential  and  malignant 
<(  difeafes,  which  altogether  tranfcends  the  procefs  of  fe- 
"  ver,  and  extingniilies  life  in  a  more  fummary  manner. 
"  In  the  worft  cafes  both  of  poifon  and  peftilence,  the  fe- 
"  brile  part  of  the  fymptoms  excites  little  attention." 

Our  author  does  not  fay  in  what  this  virulence  con- 
fifts.  In  the  cafes  of  thofe  who  die  with  the  tokens  upon 
them,  the  caufe  is  plainly  within  the  body  ;  the  deftroy- 
ing  power  acting  witli  greateft  efficacy  below  the  fkin  in 
the  foft  fubftance  of  the  flefli.  Where  the  patient  is 
fuddenly  feized  in  the  manner  defcribed  by  Dr.  Guthrie, 
the  caufe  feeius  to  be  fomething  foreign  to  the  body 

fuddenly 

*  Vol.  ii,  p,  403, 


164  A    TREATISE    ON 

fuddenly  inhaled,  the  effects  being  fimilar  to  thofe  of 
fixed  air  when  drawn  in  by  the  breath,  and  of  confe- 
quence  eafily  expelled  by  a  vigorous  adtion  of  the  powers 
of  the  fyftem.  Guthrie  obferves,  that,  in  filch  cafes,  it 
feems  "  as  if  the  contagious  matter  exifted  in  a  very 
loofe  ftate  in  the  firft  pafiages  at  the  beginning  of  the 
difeafe." 

In  the  production  of  thofe  tokens  mentioned  by  Dr. 
Hodges,  we  know  that  there  muft  have  exifted  in  the 
body  a  certain  caufe  capable  of  totally  deftroying  the 
parts,  and  reducing  them  to  an  hard  efchar,  fimilar  to 
that  produced  by  fire  or  by  a  cauftic.  As  we  are  unac- 
quainted with  any  thing  capable  of  producing  this  effecl: 
but  fire,  we  can  attribute  the  origin  of  thefe  tokens  to 
nothing  elfe  but  the  emiflioh  of  the  latent  heat  of  both 
the  folids  and  fluids  which  compofe  thefe  parts,  and 
their  confequent  tranfmutation  into  an  hard,  and  as  it 
were  charred,  fubftance.  That  fuch  an  emifiion  of  la- 
tent heat  does  in  fome  cafes  take  place  is  evident  from 
the  production  of  a  great  quantity  of  fenlible  heat  when 
certain  fubflances  are  mixed  together.  Thus,  upon 
mixing. together  oil  of  vitriol,  oil  of  turpentine  and 
ftrong  fpirit  of  nitre,  the  whole  mixture  will  take  fire 
and  burn  violently,  though  two  of  the  ingredients,  viz. 
oil  of  vitriol  and  fpirit  of  nitre,  are  by  themfelves  inca- 
pable of  being  inflamed.  In  like  manner  if  ftrong  fpi- 
rit of  nitre  be  poured  upon  oil  of  cloves  or  faflfafras,  the 
mixture  will  burft  out  into  a  violent  flame.  Water 
poured  upon  quick  lime  occafions  great  heat,  and  feems 
in  great  part  to  be  converted  into  a  folid  fubftance  ; 
for  only  a  fmall  part  evaporates,  and  the  flaked  lime 
falls  into  a  powder  to  appearance  perfectly  dry,  and 
from  which  the  moifture  cannot  be  expelled  without  a 
very  violent  fire.  In  this  cafe  Dr.  Black  is  of  opinion 
that  the  heat  comes  from  the  water,  which,  as  we  have 
already  feen,  contains  a  great  quantity  of  it  in  a  latent 
ftate.  But,  according  to  his  experiments,  the  emifiion 
of  135  degrees  of  heat  is  fufficient  to  reduce  water  to  a 
ftate  of  folidity ;  and  the  heat  of  lime  when  flaking  is 
fo  much  fuperiorto  this,  that  (hips  have  frequently  been 

fet 


THE    PLAGUE.  265 

fet  on  fire  by  it.  We  muft  therefore  either  fay  that 
water  in  certain  circumftances  can  part  with  much  more 
than  135  degrees,  or  that  the  lime  itfelf  emits  part  of 
the  heat  it  contains.  This  laft  indeed  feems  to  be  the 
more  probable  fuppofition  of  the  two ;  for  though 
fluids  contain  more  heat  in  proportion  to  their  bulk  than 
folid  bodies,  we  have  no  reafon  to  fuppofe  that  the  lat- 
ter contain  none  at  all  :  on  the  contrary  the  experiments 
formerly  mentioned,  efpecially  thofe  made  by  Count 
Rumford,  mow  that  they  are  furnifhed  with  an  almoft 
unlimited  quantity, 

The  caufe  of  the  moft  violent  kind  of  plague  then  we 
muft  fuppofe  to  be  fomething  received  into  the  body, 
which  in  a  certain  time,  probably  fooner  or  later  ac- 
cording to  the  ftrength  of  the  contagion,  difpofes  to  an 
irregular  emiffion  of  its  heat,  which  coming  by  a  kind  of 
explofions,  or,  as  Dr.  Hodges  calls  them,  blaftsy  produce 
thofe  efchars  which  have  been  called  tokens,  and  feem  to 
be  no  other  than  partial  combuftions,  by  which  the  parts 
affected  are  reduced  to  a  ftate  of  charcoal,  or  nearly  fo. 

In  affigning  this  caufe  for  the  moft  deadly  kind  of 
plague,  we  muft  naturally  afk  the  queftion,  how  can  all 
this  take  place  without  any  pain  ?  for  of  thofe  who  died 
in  this  manner,  many  felt  neither  pain  nor  uneafinefs  till 
within  a  few  moments  of  death.  This  can  only  be 
accounted  for  by  the  fudden  and  perfeft  deftruction  of 
the  parts,  which  did  not  allow  time  for  any  fenfation  of 
pain  to  take  place;  and  indeed  in  the  application  of 
caufttc  for  an  ifiue,  the  patient  often  feels  but  little  pain. 
It  is  impofiible  to  avoid  perceiving  a  very  ftrong  con- 
nexion between  this  kind  of  plague  and  the  dreadful 
cafes  of  fpontaneous  combuftion  related  p.  182 — >i86. 
In  the  cafe  of  the  prieft  indeed  the  fire  feeras  to  have 
come  from  without,  though  even  this  cannot  be  afcertain^ 
ed  beyond  a  doubt ;  but  in  thofe  who  were  abfalutely 
confumed  to  allies,  it  feems  equally  probable  that  it  may 
have  arifen  from  within ;  and  as  none  of  the  unfortunate 
perlons  feem  to  have  made  any  noife  or  ftruggle,  the 
prieft  alone  excepted,  it  feems  probable  that  the  firft 
hac}  deprived  them  of  all  fenfation,  and  that,  not- 
M  m  withftanding 


266  A    TREATISE    ON 

withftanding  the  terrible  ideas  with  which  fuch  extraor- 
dinary occurrences  mud  have  infpired  thofe  who  faw 
them,  the  fufferers  may.  have  died  without  feeling  any 
pain.  The  prieft  feems  to  have  felt  nothing  after  the 
firft  ftroke. 

Should  this  caufe  be  admitted  (indeed  whether  it  is 
admitted  or  not)  we  fee  that  it  is  in  vain  to  attempt  to 
folve  the  phenomena  of  peftilence  by  the  doctrine  of  fti- 
muli,  excitement  or  debility.  There  is  no  degree  of  fti- 
mulus,  fire  exepted,  which  can  convert  part  of  the  body 
into  an  hard  efchar,  neither  can  it  be  done  by  any  de- 
gree of  debility  or  exhauftion.  Befides,  the  irregular 
manner  in  which  thefe  efchars  are  fcattered  up  and  down, 
Ihows  that  the  caufe  has  not  acted  from  a  regular  diffu- 
flon  all  over  the  body,  but  in  a  number  of  infulated 
fpots,  between  which  the  connexion  can  by  no  means 
be  traced.  In  all  peflilential  eruptions  indeed  the  action 
of  fire  feems  to  be  very  perceptible.  Gotwald  mentions 
his  having  obferved  in  two  patients  what  he  calls  papulx 
ardentes  "  burning  pimples,"  which  Dr.  Ruffel  fuppofes 
to  be  a  modification  of  carbuncularpuftules.  Gotwald 
calls  them  alfo  fire-bladders,  and  fays  that  they  were  as 
broad  as  a  /hilling,. of  an  irregular  fhape,  and  the  ikin 
feemed  as  \tjhrivelled  with  fire.  The  carbuncle  itfelf  ap- 
proaches much  to  the  nature  of  the  efchar,  and  is  attended 
with  violent  heat  in  the  adjacent  parts.  Gotwald,  who 
gives  an  account  of  the  plague  at  Dantzic,  diftinguifhes 
the  carbuncle  into  four  kinds,  (to  be  afterwards  defcrib- 
ed.)  Of  thefe  he  fays  in  general,  that  they  all  burn  very 
violently  at  firft,  &c. 

From  all  thefe  accounts  it  feems  plain,  that  in  the 
plague  there  are  partial  difcharges  of  heat,  from  Jome 
caufe,  upon  various  parts  of  the  body  ;  and  that,  in  ma- 
ny inftances,  this  heat  deftroys  the  texture  of  the  parts 
entirely.  When  this  is  done  inftantaneofly  the  patient 
feels  no  pain,  but  if  more  gradually,  the  pain  is  excef- 
live,  as  in  the  cafe  of  buboes  and  carbuncles  -,  which  the 
Journalift  of  the  plague  year  in  London  informs  us 
were  attended  with  fuch  horrid  pain  as  to  make  the  pa- 
tients cry  out  in  a  lamentable  manner.  This  extraordi- 
nary 


THE    PLAGUE.  267 

nary  heat  muft  either  come  from,  without  or  within,  and 
we  have  all  the  reafon  in  the  world  to  believe  that  it 
comes  from  within.  Mr.  Hunter,  in  his  Treatife  on  the 
Blood,  informs  us  that  in  a  local  inflammation  there  is 
always  an  increafe  of  heat  in  the  inflamed  part.  Should 
this  heat  arife,  as  it  probably  does,  from  an  emiflion  of 
part  of  the  latent  heat,  we  may  conclude,  that  fuch  a 
quantity  might  be  emitted,  as  entirely  to  change  the 
texture  of  the  parts.  Thus  mortifications  or  deftruc- 
tions  of  thofe  parts  may  enfue,  of  all  kinds,  from  the 
mild  pus  to  the  peftilential  efchar. 

In  the  effects  of  peftilential  contagion  we  obferve,  if 
not  a  fuperiority,  at  lead  a  different  mode  cf  afiion  from 
what  takes  place  in  poifons.  All  thefe  feem  to  act  by 
diflblving  the  blood,  or  infecting  it  in  fuch  a  manner  that 
it  fupplies  no  fufficient  quantity  of  animal  fpirits  ;  of 
confequence,  the  creature  foon  faints  and  dies.  In  the 
plague,  the  blood  .does  not  appear  to  be  much  affected, 
neverthelefs  it  emits,  in  various  places,  certain  explofions 
which  convert  the  parts  into  an  efchar.  Poifons  always 
feem  to  produce  the  petechise  or  purple  fpots  which 
fometimes  appear  in  the  plague.  In  Dr.  Miller's  Trea- 
tife, already  quoted,  we  find,  among  the  fymptoms  occa- 
fioned  by  arfenic,  "  red  or  dark  fpots  appearing  on  -the 
"  ikin,  and  rapid  putrefaction,  which  renders  fpeedy  in- 
"  terment  neceffary."  Herein  it  differs  from  the  plague, 
for  the  bodies  of  fuch  as  die  of  that  diftemper  are  not 
more  liable  to  fpeedy  putrefaction  than  others.  Of  the 
vegetable  poifons  he  alfo  obferves,  that,  "  after  death, 
"  fometimes  before,  livid  fpots  are  obferved  on  the  body, 
"  the  appearance  of  the  blood  is  dark  and  diflblved,  and 
"  putrefaction  fpeedily  takes  place."  Of  animal  poi- 
fons— "  The  bite  of  the  poifonous  ferpents  is  generally 
<fi  followed  by  tumour,  and  livid  colour  of  the  part  bit- 
"  ten,  extravafation  of  dark  coloured  blood  into  the  ad- 
"  jacent  cellular  membrane,  naufea  and  vomiting,  fud- 
:c  den  proftration  of  ftrength,  paralyfis  of  the  limbs,  con- 
**  vulfions,  yellownefs  of  the  ikin,  haemorrhages,  &c. 
"  Livid  appearances  of  the  body,  a  dark  coloured  and 
^  diflblved  ftate  of  the  blood,  and  a  rapid  putrefaction, 
£  are  obferved  after  death/'  From 


268  A    TREATISE    ON 

From  all  thefe  accounts,  however,  it  is  plain,  that, 
whatever  may  be  the  analogy  between  the  adlion  of  poi- 
fons  and  malignant  fevers,  they  do  not  in  any  manner 
operate  like  the  contagion  of  the  true  peftilence.  Of 
this  the  conftant  effect  is  to  produce  buboes,  carbuncles, 
and  other  eruptions,  refembling  much  more  the  effects 
of  fire  than  any  thing  elfe  ;  or,  if  the  patient  is  cut  off 
without  the  appearance  of  thefe,  fiinilar  effects  are  obferv- 
ed  on  the  internal  and  vital  parts.  Dr.  Miller's  conclu- 
fion  feems  therefore  liable  to  exception  ;  in  which  he 
fays,  "  that  only  the  lighter  cafes  of  peftilence  are  unlike 
"  the  effects  of  poifon,  but  that,  in  proportion  to  the  de- 
"  gree  of  malignity,  the  refemblance  grows  ftronger." 
It  doth  not  appear  that  any  poifon  hath  produced  one  of 
the  characteriftic  fymptoms  of  the  true  plague,  or  any 
thing  but  what  is  common  to  animals  dying  of  various 
difeafes,  the  red  fpots  on  the  fkin  only  excepted. 

In  the  eighth  volume  of  the  Philofophical  Tranfactions 
abridged  by  Martyn,  we  have  an  account  of  a  number 
of  experiments  by  M.  Deidier  and  others,  made  upon 
dogs  into  whofe  veins  he  injected,  or  poured  into  wounds 
made  in  the  miferable  animals,  the  bile  of  people  dead  of 
the  plague  at  Marseilles.  tc  The  confequence  was, 
**  that  they  became  melancholy,  drowfy,  and  without 
<c  caring  to  eat.  All  of  them  died  in  three  or  four  days, 
<e  with  the  efiential  marks  of  the  true  plague,  declared 
ft  by  buboes,  carbuncles,  and  gangrenous  inflammations 
*c  in  the  vifcera,  in  the  fame  manner  as  in  the  human 
"  carcafes  from  whence  the  bile  was  taken." 

The  poifonous  bile  affected  the  creatures  differently 
according  to  the  vicinity  of  the  place  of  injection  to  the 
heart.  In  the  jugular  vein  it  killed  them  in  twenty- 
four  hours,  injeded  in  the  quantity  of  a  drachm  to  two 
ounces  of  water.  In  this  fhort  time  were  brought  on 
gangrenous  inflammations,  the  heart  was  (luffed  with 
thick  and  black  blood,  the  liver  was  fwelled,  and  the 
gall-bladder  full  of  green  bile.  This  fhows  a  very  ef- 
fential  difference  between  the  action  of  the  peftilential 
poifon  and  that  of  others  ;  the  former,  in  fome  parts  of 
the  body  at  leaft,  coagulates^  the  blood  5  the  latter,  in 
ail  parts,  difiblves  it.  In 


THE    PLAGUE.  269 

In  the  crural  vein  (the  vein  of  the  leg)  the  effects 
were  lefs  violent,  In  about  an  hour  they  became  heavy. 
In  the  former  cafe  they  inftantly  became  drowfy.  In 
the  fecond  experiment  they  contracted  fuch  a  loathing 
for  food,  that  they  would  neither  eat  nor  drink  any 
thing  after  the  injection  was  made.  On  the  third  day 
there  appeared  confiderable  tumours  under  the  axilla 
(the  fore  leg  I  fuppofe)  and  on  their  thighs,  about  three 
inches  from  the  wound.  The  wound  itfelf  turned 
to  a  gangrene,  and  t*he  creatures  died  ufually  on  the 
fourth  day. 

In  another  experiment  the  animal  had  convulfive 
motions  all  over  immediately  after  the  injection,  followed 
by  a  lethargy.  Next  day  a  carbuncle  appeared  on  the 
great  pectoral  mufcle  on  the  right  fide.  On  the  third, 
a  bubo  appeared  on  the  thigh,  and  the  fame  day  the  dog 
died.  From  the  time  of  the  injection  he  had  neither 
eat  nor  drank.  On  diffection  the  fore  part  of  the  bread 
under  the  teguments  was  found  entirely  gangrened, 
the  inward  parts  and  vifcera  full  of  black  clotted  blood, 
the  outward  furface  of  the  lungs  was  all  purple,  the  heart 
was  fwelled  as  big  again  as  ufual,  and  the  four  cavities 
x  were  full  of  black  clotted  blood.  The  bile  of  this  dog, 
injected  into  the  crural  vein  of  another,  produced  fimi- 
lar  fymptoms,  only  the  latter  eat  a  little  boiled  meat, 
which  he  vomited  up  again  in  two  hours.  He  died  the 
third  day,  with  the  fame  fymptoms  of  the  plague  as 
the  others. 

The  bile  of  people  who  died  of  ordinary  malignant  fe- 
vers was  muh  lefs  powerful.  A  quantity  (not  mentioned 
how  much,  but  probably  a  drachm)  mixed  with  four 
ounces  of  warm  water,  was  partly  injected  into  the  ju- 
gular vein  of  a  dog,  and  a  comprefs  foaked  in  the  reft 
of -the  liquor  applied  to  the  wound.  He  appeared  heavy 
and  ileepy,  and  would  neither  eat  nor  drink  till  the  third 
day,  when  he  did  both  willingly.  On  the  fourth  day 
the  comprefs  fell  off,  the  wound  was  found  to  be  dimi- 
niflied  one  half,  and  healed  by  degrees,  the  dog  reco- 
vering perfectly.  In  another  experiment  with  the  bile  of 
a  patient  who  had  died  of  a  malignant  fever,  the  dog  not 

only 


270  A    TREATISE    ON 

only  had  about^a  drachm  of  it  put  into  a  wound  in  his 
thigh,  but  was  made  to  fwallow  fome  of  it;  notwith- 
flanding  which  he  was  not  feized  with  any  diftemper, 
and  the  wound  healed  in  fifteen  days.  This  bile  was  as 
black  as  ink,  in  great  quantity,  and  very  thick.  In  the 
other  fubjects  it  was  of  a  deep  green.  In  another  expe- 
riment, with  the  fame  bile  applied  on  a  comprefs,  the 
dog  likewife  efcaped  without  any  apparent  diforder  ; 
but  in  a  third,  the  animal  died  in  twenty-three  hours, 
though  at  firft  he  had  iliown  no  fign  of  being  affected, 
only  that  he  feemed  to  be  thirfiy,  and  drank  with  grec- 
dinefs.  On  opening  him  his  heart  was  found  flill  to 
beat  with  violence,  and,  after  the  beating  ceafed,  no 
biood  was  to  be  found  in  it,  either  in  the  auricles  or 
ventricles.  "  This  liquor,  crowded  together  in  the  great 
"  veffels,  appeared  of  a  lively  red*  and  very  fluid,  with- 
"  out  any  of  thofe  concretions  that  we  conftantly  ob- 
"  ferved  in  thofe  who  died  of  the  plague.  Here  ap- 
"  peared  neither  external  nor  internal  marks  of  the 
*c  plague."  The  bile  of  a  perfon  who  had  died  of  an 
eryfipelas,  injected  into  the  crural  vein  of  a  dog,  pro- 
duced no  bad  effect.  A  dog  was  killed  by  half  a  drachm 
of  Hungarian  or  blue  vitriol  injected  into  the  jugular 
vein.  He  died  in  univerfal  convulfions  :  the  heart  was 
full  of  grumous  blood,  reduced  to  a  kind  of  thick  pap,  but 
without  any  clots.  The  bile,  applied  to  two  wounds 
in  another  dog,  produced  no  bad  effect. 

From  other  experiments  it  appealed  that  even  the 
peftilential  poifon  itfelf,  taken  into  the  ftomach  of  dogs, 
did  not  produce  any  deleterious  effects.  "  A  dog  of 
"  the  Hofpital  of  the  Mail  in  Marfeilles,  who  followed 
€t  the  furgeons  when  they  went  to  drefs  the  fick,  ufed 
ic  greedily  to  fwallow  the  corrupted  glands,  and  the 
*{  dreffings  charged  with  pus  which  they  ufed  to  take  off 
"  the  plague  fores :  he  licked  up  the  blood  that  he  found 
<c  fpilt  on"  the  ground  in  the  infirmary;  and  this  he  did 
<e  for  three  months,  being  always  gay,  brifk,  well,  full 
"  of  play,  and  familiar  with  all  comers."  The  health  and 
hrifknefs  of  this  unfortunate  dog  proved  his  ruin,  by 
making  him  the  fubjcct  of  philosophical  experiment, 

A  drachm 


THE    PLAGUE.  271 

A  drachm  of  the  peftiferous  bile  inje&ed  into  the  crural 
vein,  killed  him  in  four  days.  He  had  a  confiderable 
haemorrhage  from  the  wound  the  night  before  he  died, 
and  he  had  alfo  a  difagreeable  fmell  both  while  living 
and  after  he*'was  dead.  Two  other  dogs,  which  had 
fwallowed  a  quantity  of  peftiferous  bile,  became  heavy 
and  melancholy,  refufed  their  food,  and  fhowed  other 
figns  of  diforder  ;  but  all  thefe  went  off  in  a  fliort  time, 
and  no  figns  of  the  diftemper  appeared. 

Thefe  experiments  induced  M.  Deidier  to  fuppofe 
that  the  contagion  of  the  plague  lay  only  in  the  bile ; 
but  the  following  experiment  (hows  that  the  blood  was 
equally  infe&ed,  and  capable  of  communicating  the 
difeafe,  and  that  of  the  mod  malignant  fpecies.  It  was 
made  by  M.  Couzier,  phyfician  to  the  infirmary  at  Alais, 
and  in  the  Philofophical  Tranfa&ions  we  have  the 
following  account :  "  I  took  a  quantity  of  blood  from 
"  a  perfon  dead  of  the  plague,  and  mixed  it  with  warm 
"  water,  which  mixture  I  attempted  to  inject  into  the 
"  crural  vein  of  a  dog,  but  the  end  of  the  fyringe  being 
**  too  large  to  enter  the  vein,  the  experiment  did  not  fuc- 
u  ceed.  This  made  me  refolve  to  try  to  lay  fome  of  the 
"  fame  infected  blood  upon  the  wound.  This  I  accord - 
"  ingly  did,  and  covered  it  with  a  dreffing,  which  the 
<c  dog  got  off  in  the  night.  I  found  the  next  morning 
"  that  the  dog  had  licked  the  wound,  and  that  he  refuf- 
"  ed  his  food.  Towards  night  he  began  to  bemoan 
"  himfelf,  and  gave  figns  of  an  approaching  death.  The 
<c  next  morning  I  found  him  dead,  the  wound  being  con- 
"  fiderably  fwelled  and  gangrened,  and  the  edges  round 
"  the  fwelling  were  likewife  gangrened. 

"  Upon  opening  the  body,  we  found  the  liver  fome- 
"  thing  larger  than  ufual,  with  fpots  of  a  livid  purple,  as 
"  in  the  bodies  of  perfons  dead  of  the  plague.  In  the 
c  ftomach  was  found  a  quantity  of  black  coagulated 
cc  blood,  of  the  fize  of  a  hen's  egg.  This  in  all  likeli- 
"  hood  was  what  he  had  fwallowed  upon  licking  the 
^  wound.  The  heart  was  very  large,  with  a  black  gru- 
;*  mous  blood  in  the  ventricles,  and  the  auricles  were 
<f  turned  blackifh  and  gangrenous." 

This 


27^  A    TREATISE    ON 

This  laft  experiment  naturally  brings  to  remembrance 
tbofe  of  Dr.  Home  at  Edinburgh,  in  which  he  inocu- 
lated the  meafles  by  means  of  the  blood  of  patients  ill 
of  that  diforder.  From  the  accounts  he  has  given  in  his 
treatiie  entitled  Medical  Fa<5hand  Obfervations,  we  can. 
have  little  doubt  that  his  experiments  fucceeded,  how- 
ever others  may  have  failed.  One  thing,  however,  is  ve- 
ry obvious,  viz.  that  if  we  mean  to  communicate  a  dif- 
eafe by  means  of  the  blood,  we  muft  ufe  a  much  greater 
quantity  than  if  we  make  the  experiment  with  the  mat- 
ter of  an  abfcefs.  The  cafe  of  contagious  difeafes  feems 
to  be  the  fame  as  in  fermenting  liquors.  With  a  fmall 
quantity  of  yeaft  we  can  eafily  induce  fermentation  in  any 
proper  liquor,  but,  if  we  ikim  off  the  yeaft,  and  ufe  only 
the  pure  fermenting  liquor,  we  muft  ufe  a  much  greater 
quantity  ;  and  to  inattention  to  this  circumftance  we 
may  with  probability  afcribe  the  difficulty  which  Dr. 
Home  himfelf  met  with  in  introducing  the  difeafe,  and 
the  total  want  of  fuccefs  in  others.  In  M.  Couzier's  ex- 
periment a  confiderable  quantity  muft  have  been  ufed, 
as  he  fays  that  in  the  dog's  ftomach  it  equalled  the  fize 
of  an  hen's  egg.  A  much  fmaUer  quantity  of  matter 
taken  from  a  peftilential  abfcefs  is  capable  of  producing 
the  difeafe  in  a  human  body,  as  is  evident  from  the  cafe 
formerly  quoted  of  that  gentleman  who  inoculated  him- 
felf for  the  plague,  and  of  which  Dr.  Guthrie  gives  the 
following  account  :  "  ThiswasMathiasDegio,oneofthe 
"  furgeons  of  the  hofpital  at  Buchareft,  a  building  appro- 
<c  priated  to  the  cure  of  the  plague  in  the  Ruffian  army. 
"  He,  perceiving  the  gentlemen  of  hisprofeffionr0#d?w#^ 
'  '  in  a  manner  to  death,  if  punctual  in  the  dif charge  of  their  duty* 
"  had  the  reiblution  to  inoculate  himfelf  for  the  plague,  in 
•'  the  full  confidence  of  its  efficacy,  and  ever  afterwards 
'•  found  himlelf  invulnerable,  whilft  his  companions 
"  around  him  were  falling  viclims  to  its  fury.  He  pro- 
"  duced  the  difeafe  by  inferting,  with  the  point  of  a 
*c  lancef,  under  the  epidermis  of  his  arm,  matter  from  a 
"  peftlferous  abfcefs,  and  followed  the  cold  regimen  ob- 

"  ferved 

*  This,  among  innumerable  other  inftancss  that  might  be  brought,  is  z 
proof  of  the  infe3i.eus  nature  of  the  plague*  , 


THE  PLAGUE.  273 

"  ferved  in  the  (mall-pox,  as  he  had  imitated  its  mode 
"  of  inoculation.  On  the  fourth  day  of  the  pundture 
16  the  fever  declared  itfelf,  and  he,  being  perfectly  devoid 
"  of  fear,  got  through  the  difeafe  without  feeling  more 
"  inconvenience  than  if  it  had  been  that  which  he  imi- 
"  tated.  He  drank  freely  of  cold  water,  with  vinegar, 
"  or  a  little  wine,  and  kept  generally  out  of  doors.  This 
"  beverage  was  the  only  thing  that  had  the  appearance 
"  of  medicine,5'  &c. 

From  a  careful  attention  to  all  theie  hiftories,   it  is 
plain  that  the  plague  is  naturally  an  eruptive  difeafe,  as, 
in  all  the  animals  in  which  it  was  artificially  brought  on, 
eruptions  took  place,  provided  the  life  of  the  creature 
was  fufficiently  prolonged  to  allow  them  to  come  out. 
Dr.  RufTel  fays,  that,  from  his  diary,   he  noted  down 
the  cafes  of  two  thoufand  [even  hundred  patients,  all  of 
whom  had  eruptions  of  one  kind  or  other.      In  this  it 
agrees  with  the  fmall-pox,  which  Dr.  Mead  juftly  con- 
fiders  as  an   inferior  kind  of  plague.      In  the  latter, 
however,  the  eruptions  feem  to  refemble  thofe  called  by 
Dr.  Hodges  the  tokens,  only  that  the  caufe  which  pro- 
duces them  is  lefs  violent   in  its  nature  ;    but  why  the 
eruptions  of  the  fmall-pox  fliould  be  in  diftinc~t  puftules, 
and  not  one  continued  boil  all  over  the  body,  is  un- 
doubtedly inexplicable  on  any  theory  whatever.      The 
fame  is  true  of  the  plague.      No  man  can  explain  why 
the  tokens,  for  inftance,  inftead  of  being  colle&ed  into 
one  great  efchar,  are  difperfed  into  fmall  diftinct  pieces; 
or  why,  inftead  of  buboes  in  the  groin  and  armpit,  or 
inftead  of  carbuncles  indifferent  parts  of  the  body,  there 
fhould  not  be  a  (ingle  one  equivalent  in  bulk  and  power 
to  them  all.     This  appears  fimilar  to  the  phenomena  of 
rain,  hail  or  fnow,  which  fall  in  diftincl:  drops,  fluid  or 
congealed,  or  in  flakes,  inftead  of  being  equally  diffufed 
all  over  the  fpot  on  which  they  fall.     In  the  latter  cafe 
we  fay  that  the  phenomenon  is  occafioned  by  eleftricity  : 
v.re  may  fay  the  fame,  if  we  pleafe,  of  the  fmall-pox  and 
plague,  with  equal  emolument. 

From  the   accounts  we  have  juft  now  quoted,  it  ap- 
pears that  there  is  between  malignant  fevers  and  the 

N  n  true 


2'74  A    TREATISE    ON 

true  peftilence  a  very  efiential  difference  -,  the  latter 
tending  to  thicken  the  bloody  the  former  to  make  it 
thinner.  In  this  refpect  therefore  the  poifons  feem  to 
refemble  malignant  fevers  very  confiderably ;  for  M.  Fon- 
tana  obferved  that  by  mixing  animal  poifons  with  blood 
drawn  from  a  vein,  it  was  prevented  from  coagulating. 
In  the  inftance  above  related  where  a  dog  died  in  con- 
fequence  of  bile  injected  into  his  veins  from  one  who 
died  of  a  malignant  fever,  the  blood  was  found  extremely 
fluid.  In  forne  who  died  of  the  hofpital  fever.  Sir 
John  Pringlc  informs  us,  that  fuppurations  had  taken 
place  in  the  brain ;  but  in  the  true  plague  the  tendency 
to  mortification  always  prevailed  above  every  thing. 

Laftly,  that  the  plague  proceeds  from  too  great  a 
quantity  of  heat,  either  emitted  from  the  body  itfelf,  or 
fome  how  introduced  into  it,  feems  to  be  pretty  plain 
from  the  effect  it  has  of  augmenting  the  venereal  appe- 
tite to  an  almoft  inconceivable  degree.  This  was  taken 
notice  of  in  the  plague  of  Marfeilles,  and  indeed  in  many 
others.  Ruffel  quotes  two  remarkable  paffages  to  this 
purpofe  ;  one  in  a  plague  at  Genoa,  the  other  in  Medina. 
*'  Amidft  fo  many  dreadful  fears  and  terrors,  amid  fo  many 
"  fetid  and  putrefying  bodies,  amid  the  (bricks,  the  fighs 
"'-and  the  groans  of  the  fick,  what  would  you  have 
*'  expected  ?  That  the  people,  ftruck  with  dread  and 
*'  horror,  remained  fad,  modeft  and  quiet.  You  are 
<c  miftaken.  They  fung,  played  on  inftruments,  danced* 
<c  intrigued,  and  Genoa  never  was  feen  fo  (bamelefs, 
<b  debauched,  and  diforderly.  I  have  faid  before,  that 
<c  God  in  this  plague  gathered  in  a  harveft  for  heaven  ; 
"  but  it  feemed  to  be  alfo  a  vintage  for  the  lafcivious  of 
"  of  the  earth.  If  not  fo,  how  came  fo  many  marriages 
"  to  be  celebrated  in  the  Lazaretto  of  Confolation,  and 
*f  that  fo  many  women,  without  (bedding  a  tear  for  the 
"  death  of  their  hufbands,  immediately  entered  into  new 
"  engagements  ?  One  day,  in  particular,  five  marriages 
"  were  performed,  four  of  the  bridegrooms  being  buriers 
"  of  the  dead,  and  dreffing  themfelves  and  their  brides 
"  in  clothes  dripped  off  from  the  bodies  of  the  deceafed." 
On  the  plague  of  Medina  he  quotes  the  following  extract 

of 


THE   PLAGUE.  275 

of  a  letter  written  by  a  gentleman  who  refided  in  that 
city  during  the  plague  in  1743.  "  It  has  always  been 
"  obferved,  that,  after  every  plague,  thofe  who  recover 
*c  are  addi&ed  in  an  extraordinary  degree  to  lewdnefs 
"  and  incontinence,  which  was  furprifingly  vifible  at 
"  Meffina,  and  carried  to  fuch  a  degree  of  frenzy  and 
"  befliality,  that  many  were  known  to  violate  the  bodies 
"  of  dead  virgins  !" 

That  an  extraordinary  propensity  to  venery  may  be 
produced  by  introducing  into  the  body  a  quantity  of 
heat,  admits  now  of  a  kind  of  dernoHftration  from  a  fad: 
mentioned  by  M.  le  Roy  concerning  phofphorus.*  This 
fubftance  is  exceedingly  apt  to  take  fire  on  the  application 
ofafmall  degree  of  heat,  and  even  by  flight  friction. 
It  is  now  introduced  into  the  materia  medica>  and  is 
found  to  be  a  very  powerful  medicine,  though  dangerous 
on  account  of  its  inflammability,  the  heat  and  air  con- 
tained in  the  human  ftomach  being  fornetimes  fufficient 
to  fet  it  on  fire.  The  taking  fuch  a  fubftance  into  the 
body  therefore  feems  not  much  different  from  taking 
actual  fire  into  it ;  and  indeed  M.  1'e  Roy  mentions  the 
cafe  of  a  woman  who  had  taken  only  a  fingle  grain,  and 
who  he  fays  had  been  recovered,  by  fa  from  a  putrid 
fever,  but  died  fuddenly  from  fome  imprudence.  In 
this  woman  the  whole  fubftance  of  the  body  was  found 
luminous  upon  direction,  and  the  hands  of  the  operator 
continued  luminous  even  after  being  wafhed.  M.  le  Roy, 
having  taken  three  grains  of  this  fiery  fubftance,  found 
himfelf  extremely  incommoded  by  it  for  fome  hours, 
and  was  obliged  to  drink  great  quantities  of  very  cold 
water.  Next  day  he  found  his  mufcular  powers  ama- 
zingly increafed,  and  had  an  almofl  infupportable  venereal 
irritation.  This  we  fee  was  the  confequence  of  throwing 
into  the  body  a  quantity  of  heat  from  without ;  but  if 
the  body  itfelf  emits  that  heat  which  it  invifibly  con- 
tains, the  effects  muft  be  the  fame  as  though  an  extrane- 
ous quantity  had  been  thrown  into  it.  Neither  are  we 
to  imagine  that  the  quantity  of  heat  contained  in  our 
bodies  is  fmall  or  inconfiderable  -,  for  we  have  already 

feen 

*  Meraoires  de  Societe  Medicale,  &<?0 


A    TREATISE    ON 

feen  that  beat  confifts  in  the  efflux  from  any  fubftance, 
of  an  invifible  and  moft  fubtile  fluid,  in  all  diredions, 
When  this  flux  is  gentle,  the  heat  is  moderate,  but  in 
proportion  to  the  adivity  of  the  difcharge,  the  tempe- 
rature becomes  hotter  and  hotter,  and  if  very  violent, 
the  cohefion  of  the  parts  is  diflblved  entirely,  and  the 
fubftance  is  faid  to  be  on  fire.  There  is  required  there- 
fore only  fome  caufeto  begin  the  emiffion  of  this  fluid  ; 
for  as  loon  as  this  begins,  the  immenfe  quantity  with 
which  we  are  furrounded,  will  fupply  more  in  abundance,* 
and  continue  fo  t6  do,  as  long  as  the  original  caufe 
fubfifts,  or  until  the  fubftance  can  no  longer  bear  the 
power  which  operates  upon  it. 

From  this  view  of  the  caufes  of  the  plague,  and  from 
the  fads  which  have  been  laid  down  concerning  it,  we 
cannot  help  perceiving  a  very  ftrong  (imilarity  between 
the  plagues  mentioned  in  the  Old  Teftament  and  thofc 
which  ftill  exift  in  the  world.  In  one  of  the  paflages 
formerly  quoted  it  is  called  an  inflammation^  an  extreme 
bnrninv>  and  from  the  teftimonies  of  different  authors 
above  quoted,  it  is  plain  that  the  difeafe  ftill  deferves  the 
name  beftowed  upon  it  in  the  facred  writings.  From 
the  account  given  of  its  proximate  caufe,  it  is  plain  that 
plagues  of  all  degrees  of intenfity  may  take  place,  from 
abfolute  accenfion  of  the  body,  and  its  redudion  to  a(h- 
es,  to  the  mildeft  ftate  of  the  difeafe,  in  which  the  pa- 
tient is  not  confined  to  his  bed  ;  and  all  this  from  the 
{ingle  principle  of  emiffion  of  heat  from  the  body  rtfelfc 
It  likewife  appears  that  there  may  be  either  in  the  body 
itfelf,  or  in  the  element  which  furrounds  it,  fuch  a  con- 
ftitution  as  will  difpofe  that  element  which  is  the  natu- 
ral and  immediate  preferver  of  our  life,  fuddenly  to  at- 
tack and  deftroy  it,  of  which  the  cafe  of  the  Italian  prieft 
is  a  moft  remarkable  inftance.  In  other  cafes,  fuch  as 

the 

*  If  we  confider  the  compofition  of  the  atrtiofphere  which  furrounds  us,  we 
rnuft  acknowledge  that  by  far  the  greater  part  of  it  confifts  of  fire  and  elcdric 
fluid,  the  latter  being  properly  the  element  in  a  comparatively  quiefeent  ftate. 
In  deflagrating  dephiogifticated  and  inflammable  air,  the  mixture  has  fome- 
times  ihrunk  up  into  a  three  hundredth  part  of  its  bulk  ;  which  ftiows  that  of 
thefe  airs  two  hundred  and  ninety-nine  parts  are  fire,  the  fingl§  remaining 
part  only  being  earthi  water*  or  fome  iolid  matter  which  we  call  the  bajis  of 


THE    PLAGUE.  277 

the  Italian  lady,  and  the  woman  at  Coventry,  the  body 
itfelf  teems  to  have  given  out  its  heat,  though  this  could 
not  be  done  without  a  concurrence  of  the  furrounding 
ethereal  fluid.  In  a  ftage  ftill  lower,  the  body  is  partial* 
ly  confurned,  or  rather  partly  charred  into  a  kind  of  cin- 
der, as  where  the  tokens  are  produced  >  and  when  the 
caufe  ads  with  ftill  lefs  violence,  a  fever  is  produced. 
In  the  Old  Teftament  we  find  thefe  different  kinds  of 
plagues  very  diftindly  mentioned.  In  fome  cafes  the  of- 
fenders died  by  actual  fire,  which  either  ftruck  them 
from  without,  or  was  kindled  within  their  bodies.  In 
others,  they  feem  to  have  died  by  that  very  deadly  kind 
of  plague  of  which  we  have  already  faid  fo  much,  which 
kills  in  a  few  hours.  This  was  probably  the  plague 
which  deftroyed  the  army  of  Sennacherib,  and  this  in 
the  tenth  chapter  of  Ifaiah  is  by  fome  thought  to  have 
been  prophefied  of  under  the  title  of  a  burning  like  the 
burning  of  a  fire. 

Of  thefe  things  I  the  rather  take  notice,  as  I  perceive, 
in  a  late  oration,  not  only  the  doctrine  of  the  plague  be- 
ing propagated  by  contagion  feverely  ridiculed,  but  the 
fcripture  itfelf  treated  in  a  moft  indecent  and  fcanclalous 
manner.  "  In  the  ear  Heft  ages  of  the  world  (fays  he) 
<4  when  ignorance  and  fuperftition  led  men  to  attribute 
"  all  extraordinary  phenomena  to  the  direct  agency  of 
"  fupernatural  beings,  peftilence  was  fuppofed  to  be 
"  immediately  imported  from  heaven.  This  is  the  opi- 
"  nion  which  appears  to  have  prevailed  among  the  an- 
*'  cient  Hebrews,  and  may  be  ranked  at  the  head  of  the 
"  catalogue  of  abfurdities  on  this  fubjeft.  Thedomi- 
*e  nion  of  prejudice  over  the  minds  of  that  ignorant  and 
"  obftinate  people  appears  in  this  inftance  particularly 
;t  ftriking.  Such  was  the  depth  of  their  blind  bigotry 
'  in  favour  of  the  healthfulnefs  of  the  globe  they  inha- 
*  bited,  that  they  would  feem  to  have  coniidered  it  as 
"  even  fuperior  to  that  of  the  celeftial  regions.  Hence, 
"  unwilling  to  believe  that  their  favourite  earth  could 
*{  give  origin  to  an  evil  fo  dreadful  as  the  peftilence,  they 
"•  imported  the  feeds  of  this  calamity  from  the  more  un- 
ff  healthful  climate  of  heaven  ]  !" 

In 


278  A   TREATISE    ON 

In  this  extraordinary  paragraph  we  find  the  matter  fo 
much  mifreprefented,  that  every  veftige  of  truth  is  fwal- 
lowed  up  in  it.     The  Hebrews  believed   that  they  were 
tinder  the  immediate  infpeftion  and  government  of  the 
Deity  ;  a  doftrine  which,  however  our  author  may  dif- 
believe,  he  cannot  difprove.      But,  notwithftanding  this 
immediate  infpe&ion  and   government,  the  Deity  never 
did  bring  upon  them  any  plague  but  by  the  intervention 
of  natural  caufes.     The  agents  which  he  had    originally 
created  were  fufficiently  able  to  execute  his  purpofes. 
The  Creator  never  employed  any  power   but   what  al- 
ready exiiled  in  the  world,  and  the  power  that  he  gene- 
rally did  employ  was  fire.     This  agent   he  directed   to 
exert  its  force  in  fuch  degrees  as  he  pleafed,  and  againft 
whom  he  pleafed.     It  is  a  miftake  to  think  that  miracles 
were  immediately  the  effects  of  fupernatural  power.     They 
were  all  accomplished  by  the  very  powers  which  exift  in 
the  world  at  this  moment,  only  thefe  powers  were  by  the 
Creator  at  particular  times  directed  to  act  in  a  manner 
that  they  would  not  have  done  had  they  been  left  to  the 
mechariifm  of  their  own  nature.     When  we  read  there- 
fore of  people  being  confumed  by  fire  from  the  Lord, 
there  was  neither  importation  of  fire  from  heaven  nor 
any  where  elfe  -,  the  element  exerted  its  power  on  thefe 
particular  perfons, either  by  lightning  proceeding  from  the 
cloud    which    reprefented  the  Deity,   or  their    bodies 
threw  out    the  latent  heat  which   they  contained,  and 
confumed   of  themfelves.     That    in    cafes  of  this  kind 
there  was  no  importation  fuppofed,  is  evident  from  an  ex- 
preffion  ufed  about  bringing  water  from  the  rock.    It  is 
not  faid  that  the  water  fell  from  the  ftars,  or  came  down 
with  the  tail  of  a  comet,  but  that  the  rock  gave  out  the 
water  which  it   previously   contained.     At   the  prefent 
day  the  lame  powers  exift,  and  fometimes   produce  the 
iame  effects  that  they  did  in  former  times,  with  this  dif- 
ference, that  now,  having  no  intelligent  agent  to  inter- 
fere with  their  natural  mode  of  action,    they  exert  their 
force  indifcriminately,  and  as  the  mechanifm  of  their  na- 
ture happens  to  be  ftimulated,  they  deltroy  every  thing 
proiuifcoufly  before  them.     In  all  this  I  cannot  perceive 

the 


THE    PLAGUE.  279 

the  fmalleft  abfurdity,  or  any  thing  but  what  a  rea- 
fonable  man  may  indeed  mujl  believe,  if  he  makes  ufe  of 
his  reafon.  As  to  the  caufes  which  Dr.  Caldwell  fo  much 
infifts  upon,  viz.  filth  and  corruption,  it  is  extremely 
probable  that  (while  the  Ifraclites  were  in  the  wildernefs) 
thefe  had  no  exiftence.  By  their  law  they  were  enjoin- 
ed fuch  frequent  ablutions,  that  their  bodies  muft  always 
have  been  perfectly  clean.  Human  excrements  were 
not  allowed  to  lie  above  ground.  The  offals  and  dung 
of  their  facrifices  were  carried  to  a  diftance,  and  they  were 
exprefsly  told,  that  they  muft  not  allow  of  any  unclean- 
nefs  in  their  camp,  left  God  fhould  turn  away  from  them 
and  abhor  them.  Add  to  all  this  the  great  heat  and 
drynefs  of  the  defert  in  which  they  wandered,  which 
would  quickly  parch  up  and  carry  off  the  moifture  from 
any  dead  carcafes  or  putrefying  matters  that  might  be 
allowed  to  remain  notwithftanding  the  injuctions  to  the 
contrary.  Indeed  if  we  confider  the  drynefs  of  the  cli- 
mate where  thefe  people  were,  and  that  they  were  con- 
ftantly  attended  by  a  large  ftream  of  water,  it  is  difficult 
to  conceive  any  fituation  upon  earth  more  healthy  than 
that  of  the  Jews  in  the  wilderneis.  If  plagues  therefore 
came  upon  them,  it  is  difficult  to  fay  how  they  could 
have  happened  according  to  the  ordinary  courfe  of  na- 
ture ;  and,  if  not  according  to  this,  it  muft  have  been  by 
an  alteration  of  it,  or  by  miracle. 

The  plague,  as  has  already  mentioned,  in  its  very  fe- 
vere  ftate  appears  moft  commonly  in  the  beginning  of 
an  epidemic  feafon,  and  is  neither  very  common  nor 
very  infectious.  The  moft  common  mode  in  which  it 
invades  the  patient  is  with  the  fymptoms  of  a  malignant 
fever;  and  of  cafes  of  this  kind  Dr.  RulTel  has  made 
up  his  five  claffes  of  patients,  the  firft  or  deadly  kind 
having  been  already  defcribed.  In  his  fecond  clafs,  the 
next  in  malignity  to  the  fatal  kind,  the  difeafe  made  its 
attack  with  a  flight  (hivering,  fucceeded  by  fever  with 
giddinefs,  vomiting,  head-ach,  and  fometimes  loofenefs. 
In  the  night  the  fever  increafed,  the  thirft  was  exceflivc, 
and  the  patient,  haraffed  by  the  vomiting,  &c.  pafled  a 
very  unquiet  night,  frequently  with  delirium  or  coma. 

Towards 


28o  A    TREATISE   ON" 

Towards  morning- the  fever  abated,  the  fick  recovered 
their  (enfes  if  delirium  had  taken  place,  but  if  coma,  it 
continued  through  the  day,  and  the  remiffions  were  lefs. 
Throughout  the  firft  day,  and  part  of  the  fecond,  the 
pulfe  was  full  and  ftrong,  but  on  the  fecond  it  began  to 
alter,  and  fome  of  the  characteriftic  figns  of  the  difeafe 
to  appear.  The  principal  of  thefe  was  a  certain  mud- 
dinefs  in  the  eyes,  which  fometimes  took  place  even  on  the 
firfl  day.  This  is  by  our  author  accounted  a  fymptom  very 
difficult  to  be  defcribed,  and,  though  he  recounts  the  de- 
fcriptions  given  by  feveral  authors,  none  are  found  ade- 
quate to  the  real  appearance.  "  It  refembled  (fays  he) 
ft  fome  what  the  dull,  fixed  eye  obfervable  in  the  lafh  ftage 
"  of  malignant  fevers;  but  the  dullnefs  was  different, 
<c  muddinefs  and  luftre  being  ftrangely  blended  together. 
"  It  continued  with  little  alteration  in  the  remiffions, 
"and  even  where  the  patient  appeared  fenfible  and 
"  compofed  it  did  not  increafe  in  the  febrile  exacerba- 
"  tions,  but  the  eyes  acquired  a  rednefs  that  added 
"  wildnefs  to  the  look,  which  abating  or  going  off  in 
"  the  remiffions,  the  muddinefs  remained  behind.  It 
<e  was  this  which  contributed  chiefly  in  competing  that 
"  confufion  of  countenance  which  I  mail  not  attempt 
"  to  defcribe,  but  which  enabled  me  to  pronounce  with 
*c  tolerable  certainty  whether  the  difeafe  was  or  was  not 
"  the  plague,  though  not  independently  of  other  fymp- 
"  toms.  When  this  muddinefs  difappeared  or  abated, 
"  it  was  conftantly  a  favourable  fign.  After  a  critical 
"  fign  it  often  difappeared  fuddenly,  but  where  there 
"  was  a  fucceffion  of  fweats,  or  where  no  vifible  crifis 
"  happened,  its  difappearance  was  flow  and  gradual." 

Along  with  this  muddinefs  the  patient  had  a  peculiar 
confulion  of  countenance  ;  the  pulfe  quick  and  equal, 
or  low  and  flattering,  but  rarely  intermittent  ;  the  ex- 
ternal heat  moderately  feverifli,  at  other  times  intenfe, 
with  irregular  fluftings,  with  pain  at  the  heart,  or  op- 
preffions  "about  the  prsecordia  ;  burning  pain  at  the  pit 
of  the  ftomach,  and  inceffant  inquietude.  When  to 
thefe  iymptoms  were  added  a  faltering  in  the  tongue, 
lofs  offpeech,  while  the  fur  face  of  the  body  became 

cold 


THE    PLAGUE.  281 

cold  and  damp  with  clammy  fweat,  death  was  inevita- 
ble. In  the  evening  of  the  fecond  day  all  the  fymp- 
toms  became  worfe^  and  in  the  morning  the  patient 
appeared  to  lie  quiet  more  from  his  ftrength  being  ex- 
haufted  than  from  any  change  to  the  better.  When 
the  vomiting  had  ceafed,  however,  there  was  frequently 
fuch  a  remiffion  on  the  third  day  as  gave  the  attendants 
great  hopes  of  a  favourable  event  -9  but  thefe  hopes  were 
always  fallacious  and  of  (hort  duration.  Sometimes 
where  vomiting,  loofenefs  or  haemorrhage  had  preceded, 
the  patient  died  on  the  third  day  :  at  any  rate,  none  of 
this  clafs  recovered^  whether  the  difeafe  was  left  to  itielf, 
or  treated  with  medicine.  The  appearance  of  buboes 
was  of  no  confequence,  for  they  never  came  to  matu- 
rity, and  the  little  advances  they  made  neither  accele- 
rated nor  retarded  the  termination  of  the  difeafe,  which 
happened  fometimes  on  the  third,  but  more  frequently 
on  the  fifth  or  fixth  day. 

The  third  clafs  of  patients  were  equally  unfortunate 
with  the  other  two.  "The  difference  between  the 
"  fecond  and  third  confided  in  the  abfence  of  vomiting 
"  at  the  beginning,  the  later  acceffion  of  coma  and  other 
;t  bad  fymptoms,  and  a  flight  tendency  to  perfpiration, 
tc  which  very  rarely  occurred  in  the  fecond.  .  .  .  From 
"  the  fecond  or  third  night  the  courfe  of  fymptoms  in  \ 
;t  both  clafles  varied  very  little,  and  the  termination  of 
"  the  difeafe  was  in  both  the  fame :  it  may  be  added 
"  they  reigned  together  through  all  the  periods  of  the 
'  peftilential  feafon,  but  were  mod  prevalent  in  itsaug- 
'{  ment  $  for  at  its  height,  and  in  its  decline,  they  gave 
"  place  to  varieties  of  the  difeafe  lefsdedructive." 

The  fourth  clafs  was  the  mod  numerous  of  all.     Its 

didinetive  marks  were,  "  the  continuance  of  the  inflam- 

'  matory  or  febrile  fymptoms  with  lefs  interruption  than 

'  in  the  other,  a  pulfe  more  condantly  fudained,  or  foon 

;<  recovering  itfelf  when  hurried  in  the  exacerbations; 

:;  the  length  and  vigour  of  the  exacerbations  decreafing 

'  in  the  advance  of  the  difeafe ;    and,  above  all,  the 

:c  prevalent  tendency  to  a  favourable  difcharge  by  the 

"  fkin,  with  the  critical  fweats  on  the  3d,  5th,  or  fub- 

O  o  «  fequejit 


A    TREATISE    ON 

"  fequent  days.  .  .  .  Vomiting  was  a  concomitant  Iti 
"  about  one  fourth  of  the  fick.  The  fever,  for  the 
*  moil  part,  was  very  moderate  the  firft  night,  very 
"  rarely  accompanied  with  delirium,  and  almoft  never 
**  with  the  comatous  difpofition.  .  .  .  The  buboes  and 
"  carbuncles  commonly  made  their  appearance  the  firft 
"  day ;  but  it  was  not  unufual  to  fee  a  fucceffive  erup- 
"  tion  of  thefe  in  the  courfe  of  the  difeafe.  .  .  .  The 
"  morning  fweat,  on  the  third  day,  in  fome  cafes  proved 
**  completely  critical,  but  more  commonly  produced 
"  only  a  remirlion  fo  favourable  as  to  encourage  the  ex- 
*c  pedlation  of  a  more  favourable  crifis  on  the  fifth  -,  but* 
'"'  where  the  patient  neither  fweat  on  the  third,  nor  a 
€t  fenfible  remiffion  took  place  on  that  day,  fome  degree 
<c  of  danger  was  always  to  be  apprehended.  .  .  .  After 
"  the  fweat  on  the  fifth,  the  fubfequent  exacerbations 
"  proved  flrghter  and  flighter,  and  the  buboes  for  the 
*'  moft  part  advancing  favourably,  little  or  no  fever  was 
"  left  remaining  after  the  beginning  of  the  fecond  week, 
"  except  perhaps  fymptomatic  heats  occafioned  by  the 
*'  eruptions."  In  this  clafs  the  patients  fometimes  ap- 
peared only  to  have  a  flight  attack,  and  yet  at  laft 
were  feized  with  mortal  fymptoms,  while  others  who 
feemed  to  be  much  worfe  at  firft  yet  happily  recovered 
and  did  well.  In  general  the  fevere  peflilential  fymptoms 
did  not  come  on  till  a  confiderable  time  after  the  attack. 
To  the  fifth  clafs  our  author  refers  all  cafes  of  flight 
infeclion,  wherein  the  more  formidable  fymptoms  of 
peftilence  never  concurred,  and  ell  the  infected  recovered* 
"  The  accefs  here  was  often  attended  with  fo  little  ap- 
"  parent  diforder,  that  the  eruptions  gave  the  firft  alarm  ; 
"  and  the  fever  which  came  on  afterwards  was  frequently 
"  fo  flight  as  not  to  confine  the  fick  to  the  houfe.  Others 
"  found  themfelves  indifpofed  for  two  or  three  days, 
"  but  were  not  fenfible  of  any  febrile  heat  whatever. 
"  But  in  this  clafs  the  difeafe  did  not  always  invade 
"  thus  infenfibly.  The  febrile  fymptoms,  efpecially  the 
ic  firft  three  days,  fometimes  run  pretty  high  ;  and  the 
"  fever  afterward,  in  nocturnal  exacerbations  particularly, 
"  run  out  to  the  end  of  the  w<ek  or  longer  ;  but,  as 

"  there 


THE    PLAGUE.  283 

"  there  was  no  concurrence  of  alarming  fymptoms,  and 
"  the  exacerbations,  terminating  for  the  mod  part  in 
"  fweats,  gradually  diminimed  in  force  after  the  third  or 
"  fourth  night,  it  was  not  difficult  in  the  worft  cafes  to 
"  foretel  the  event  at  that  period,  nor  neceffary  in  others 
"  to  defer  the  decifion  fo  long." 

"  All  the  infeded  had  buboes  or  carbuncles,  and  very 
"  often  both  eruptions  concurred  in  the  fame  fubjed. 
£C  Perfons  not  confined  by  indifpofition  were  often,  by 
"  the  inguinal  buboes,  prevented  from  walking  abroad. 
"  The  carbuncles  conftantly  formed  the  black  cru/t,*  and 
"then  fuppurated  ;  the  buboes  in  one  third  of  the  fick 
"  difperfed.  The  difperfion  of  the  buboes  was  never 
"  obferved  to  be  attended  with  bad  confequences,  not- 
"  withstanding  the  general  negled;  of  purging  in  the 
"  decline  of  the  difeafe  ;  indeed  very  few  had  recourfe 
"  to  remedies,  topical  applications  excepted,  uralefs  per- 
"  haps  a  bleeding  at  the  beginning,  where  the  febrile 
"  fymptoms  ran  high.  This  clafs  was  nearly  as  numerous 
"  as  the  fourth,  but  began  to  predominate  rather  later^ 
"  and  reigned  moft  of  all  in  the  decline  of  the  plague 
"in  1762." 

The  fixth  clafs  mud  be  omitted,  as  containing  dubi- 
ous, anomalous  and  extraordinary  cafes.  We  fhall 
therefore  proceed  to  confider  the  accounts  of  the  plague 
given  by  other  phyficians,  which,  without  queftioning 
the  accuracy  of  Dr.  Patrick  RufTel  in  relating  what  hs 
has  feen,  may  ferve  to  throw  fome  light  on  the  fubjecT:, 
by  relating  what  others  have  feen.  Dr.  Alexander  Ruf- 
fel,  in  his  Natural  Hiftory  of  Aleppo,  gives  the  Follow- 
ing defcript  ion  of  it.  "  The  diftemper  in  itfelf  is  the 
"  moft  lamentable  to  which  mankind  are  liable.  The 
"  torments  of  heat,  thirft  and  pain  frequently  unite  in 
:<  fome  patients  ;  an  unfpeakable  dejection  and  languor 
<c  in  others ;  and  even  thofe  who  efcape  with  life  do 
ic  not  ceafe  to  fuffer  from  painful  and  putrid  ulcers,  the 
:<  painful  remains  of  the  difeafe.  The  defertion  of  rela- 
"  tions,  of  friends,  and  of  domeftic  fervants,  the  want 

"  often 

This  is  in  favour  of  what  has  already  been  obfervedi  that  the 
Sruptiona  in  all  cafes  &owe4 


284  A    TREATISE    ON 

"  often  of  the  common  necefifaries  of  life,  and  the  diffi- 
"  culty  of  procuring  medical  afliftance,  are  circumftances 
"  likewife  which  aggravate  (the  miferies  of  the  lick,  and 
"  contribute  greatly  to  augment  the  general  horror. 

"  But,  as  nodifeafe  incident  to  mankind  is  in  its  na- 
"  ture  more  terrible  and  definitive,  fo  none  is  more  dif- 
"  ficult  to  obferve.  Its  fymptoms  are  fcarcely  in  all  re- 
"  fpeds  alike  in  any  two  perfons,  and  even  vary  extreme- 
/"  ly  in  the  courfe  of  an  hour  in  the  fame  fubjedl.  The 
"  difeafe,  attended  in  the  beginning  with  fymptoms  not 
"  highly  alarming,  often  ends  fatally  in  a  few  hours  ; 
"  while  the  moft  formidable  attacks,  by  a  fudden  and 
"  unexpected  alteration,  fometimes  terminate  happily. 

"  The  firft  complaints  of  thofe  feized  with  this  diftem- 
"  per,  were,  in  general,  a  coldnefs  or  fhivering  ;  ficknefs ; 
"  a  vomiting  of  large  quantities  ofporraceous  bile,  which 
"  often  had  a  very  oifenfive  fmell  ;  anxiety,  or  an  inex- 
*'  preflible  uneafinefs  about  the  pit  of  the  ftomach  ;  pairt 
**  in  the  back  or  loins  ;  an  intenfe  hefid-ach  ;  uncom- 
"  mon  giddinefs,  and  a  fudden  iofs  of  ftrength.  Some 
44  were  fenfible  of  a  fharp  Ihooting  pain  darting  at  inter- 
<c  vals  into  the  parotid,  axillary  or  inguinal  glands.  To 
"  thefe  fymptoms  fucceeded  a  violent  fever  ;  in  which, 
"  while  the  fick  complained  of  extreme  inward  heat, 
"  their  fkin,  externally  to  the  touch  felt  little  hotter 
*'  than  ufual.  Sometimes  this  hea£  became  general  and 
"  intenfe  ;  at  other  times  particular  parts  only  were  af- 
*c  feded  ^  but  it  feldom  continued  long  in  the  lamede- 
"  gree,. having  feveral  unequal  remiflions  and  exacerba- 
**  tions  in  a  day.  In  thefe  exacerbations  the  face  became 
"  florid,  but  would  often  from  a  deep  fcarlet  change  to 
"  a  livid  colour,  like  that  of  a  perfon  almoft  flrangled? 
f  and,  again  fuddenly  changing,  it  would  afTume  a  ca- 
*'  daverous  palenefs.  The  eyes,  foon  lofing  their  natural 
*{  luftre,  acquired  a  kind  of  muddinefs  ;  and  the  coun- 
fc  tenance  of  moft  of  the  fick  v^as  ghattly  and  confufed 
<c  beyond  defcription.  The  pulfe  at  the  beginning  was 
"  fomewhat  quicker  and  lower,  but  in  other  refpects  va- 
"  ried  little  from  the  natural  (tate.  Within  a  few  hours 
*f  it  commonly  increafed  in  quicknefs  and  ftrength,  but 

"  feldom 


THE    PLAGUE.  285 

**  feldo$n  remained  the  fame  for  an  hour,  nay  fcarcely 
"  many  minutes  together ;  inceffantly  varying,  both  as 
"  to  ftrength  and  quicknefs,  and  without  any  manifeft 
"  correfpondence  with  the  other  febrile  fymptoms. 

46  In  fuch  as  complained  of  pains  darting  eitikr  into 
"  the  parotids,  the  arm-pits,  or  the  groins*  afmall  hard, 
"  deep-feated  tumour,  with  external  difcoloration  of 
fc  the  fkm,  was  difcovered  by  the  touch  in  the  part,  and 
"  thefe  were  the  incipient  peftilential  buboes. 

"  The  appearances  now  defcribed  were  thofe  of  the 
"  diftemper  on  the  firft  day,  till  evening,  when  the  fick 
"  always  fufTered  a  fevere  exacerbation,  in  which  the 
"  heat  both  internal  and  external  became  exceffive  ; 
"  and,  as  they  generally  were  by  that  time  delirious,  it 
"  was  often  with  difficulty  that  they  would  be  kept 
"  within  doors ;  they  were  greatly  difpofed  to  talk,  but 
**"  faltered  fo  in  their  fpeech,  that  what  they  faid  was 
"  hardly  intelligible,  the  tongue  having  £hared  with  the 
-"  other  organs  in  the  general  debility.  The  exacerba- 
'*  tion  lafted  the  moft  part  of  the  night  ;  but  the  heat, 
"  delirium,  and  inquietude  abated  towards  morning,  and 
"  a  manifeft  remiffion  took  place.  Some  recovered  their 
"  fenfes  entirely,  fome  partially,  and  then  complained  of 
"  intenfe  head-ach,  or  of  pains  from  the  buboes  ;  it  was 
"  ufual  in  this  interval  alfo  that  thofe  who  had  carbun- 
<c  cles  began  to  complain  of  burning  pain  in  thefe  fejy 
"  eruptions.  The  morning  remifiion  was  commonly  of 
**  very  (hort  duration  ;  the  rigours,  anxiety  and  delirium 
44  foon  returning  more  violent  than  before,  attended  with 
"  a  ftrong  and  frequent  fubfultus  tendinum.  Thefe  fe- 
"  brile  fymptoms  did  not  increafe  regularly  as  the  day 
"  advanced  ;  but  went  away  and  returned  at  intervals 
"  leaving  (hort  but  alarming  intermiffions  ;  for  each 
:c  exacerbation  furpafled  that  which  preceded  it  either 
c  in  violence  or  duration.  In  the  evening  the  pulfe 
**  could  hardly  be  counted,  by  reafon  of  its  depreffiori 
"  and  quicknefs  ;  the  patient  became  comatofe,  and  the 
;<  refpiration  was  quick,  laborious,  and  interrupted. 
:  The  buboes  which,  fome  hours  before,  feemed  mant- 
*c  feftly  to  advance,  often  fubfided,  and  fometimes  al- 

"  moft 


286  A    TREATISE    ON 

"  mofl  entirely  difappeared  ;  the  carbuncles,  mortifying 
"  at  the  top,  refembled  a  great  efchar.  made  by  a  cauf- 
"  tic :  and  at  this  period  alfo  livid  or  black  fpots,  of 
"  various  dimenfions,  often  were  found  fcattered  univer- 
"  fally  on  the  body. 

"  Under  thefe  circumftances,  dreadful  as  they  feem- 
"  ed,  fome  hope  of  recovery  ftill  remained  ;  for,  though 
"  many  of  the  flck  died  on  the  third  day,  feveral  had  a 
"  favourable  crifis  on  that  day,  by  a  profufe  fweat ;  fome 
te  ftruggled  to  the  fifth  day,  a  few  to  the  feventh,  and, 
:4  here  and  there  one,  even  to  the  eleventh  j  before 
"  any  critical  alteration  took  place.  Where  a  copious 
''  fweat  happened  on  the  third  day,  if  it  did  not  prove 
"  perfectly  critical,  it  at  lead  always  considerably  abated 
*  the  fever  ;  which,  in  that  cafe,  was  generally  to- 
"  tally  removed  by  a  fecond,  though  lefs  profufe  fweat, 
"  on  the  fifth  :  and  then  befides  weaknefs  the  chief  re* 
"  mains  of  the  difeafe  confided  in  the  pain  of  the  erup-r 
"  tions. 

"  Nothing  could  be  predicted  with  refpecl  to  the 
"  event  of  the  difeafe  from  the  manner  of  its  invafion  3 
cc  thofe  who  had  the  mod  favourable  efcape  having  been 
*c  often  in  the  beginning  attacked  with  as  alarming 
*'  fymptoms  as  others  were  who  died  in  a  few  hours, 
"  Sometimes  the  febrile  paroxyfm,^  which  had  fet  in 
<c  with  fuch  formidable  violence,  diffoived  in  a  few 
^  hours,  and  left  the  patient  languid  indeed,  and  weak 
*'  in  an  extreme  degree,  but  free  from  other  complaints 
"  except  the  pain  arifmg  from  the  bubo,  which  from 
*'  that  period  increafing  in  fize,  and  advancing  favoura^ 
"  bly  to  maturation,  was,  in  many  cafes,  ready  to  open 
"  in  twelve  or  fifteen  days  :  the  patient  all  the  while, 
u  except  the  firft  day,  walking  about  as  ufual.  Great 
"  numbers  happily  efcaped,  not  only  in  the  manner  juft 
"  defcribed,  but  likewife  where  the  buboes  never  ad- 
"  vanced  ;  for  thefe  tumours,  fo  far  from  coming  always 
"  to  maturation  in  fuch  as  recovered,  very  often  dif- 
4<  cuffed  without  any  bad  confequence.  Carbuncles 
"  often  began  to  digeft  before  the  termination  of  thefe- 
<c  ver  in  a  critical  fweat. 


THE    PLAGUE.  287 

tc  All  the  infe6ted  had  buboes,  except  fuch  as  expired 
**  fuddenly,  or  furvived  the  firft  attack  a  few  hours  only. 
"  Inftances  of  this  dreadful  kind  were  more  particularly 
"  obferved  in  March  1743.  The  fick  were  feized  in  the 
"  ufual  manner ;  but  the  head-ach,  vomiting,  and  pain 
"  about  the  praecordia,  increafmg  every  moment,  proved » 
"  fuddenly  mortal,  or  terminated  within  a  few  hours  in  fa- 
"  tal  convulfions."  Dr.  Patrick  RuiTel  obferves,  that  fuch 
inftances  of  fudden  death  were  very  rare  in  the  plague 
of  1760,  1761  and  1762;  and  in  thefe  they  happened 
only  in  the  winter,  or  early  in  the  fpring.  In  fuch  fud- 
den deaths  few  had  any  appearance  of  buboes ;  but  in 
general  the  armpits  and  groins,  or  the  inlide  of  the  arms 
and  thighs,  became  livid  or  black,  and  the  reft  of  the 
body  was  covered  with  confluent  petechia*,  livid  puftules 
being  here  and  there  interfperfed  :  but  all  thefe  appear- 
ances were  more  efpecially  obferved  after  death. 

In  the  plague  of  1760,  vibices  as  well  as  livid  and 
black  fpots  were. frequently  found  on  the  corpfe,  but 
not  conftantly.  They  were  always  fufpicious  in  con- 
junction with  other  circumftances,  but  their  abfence 
was  no  proof,  though  frequently  urged  as  fuch,  that  the 
diftemper  was  not  the  plague.  The  vibices  fometimes 
appeared  feveral  hours  before  death,  but  the  livid  fpots 
feldom  or  never. 

The  tongue  in  feme  was  quite  moift,  and  continued 
to  be  like  that  of  a  healthy  perfon  throughout  the  dif- 
eafe  ;  in  others,  white  at  firft,  then  yellow  ;  at  laft 
black,  and  covered  with  a  dry,  foul  fcurf  or  fur.  The 
thirft  was  generally  very  great,  but  never  conftant ;  re- 
turning at  regular  intervals,  and  never  appearing  to  cor- 
refpond  with  the  danger  of  the  fever.  Sometimes  it 
was  fo  little  that  the  patient  could  not  be  prevailed 
upon  to  drink  a  fufficient  quantity.  The  appearance  of 
the  urine  was  equally  variable,  and  afforded  no  certain 
prognoftic  ;  being  feldom  alike  in  any  two  patients  in 
the  fame  ftage  of  the  diftemper,  and  varying  in  the  fame 
patient  every  day.  The  vomiting  commonly  ceafed 
after  a  few  hours,  excepting  where  the  fick  were  in- 
duced by  thirft  to  load  their  ftomach,  in  which  cafe  it 

always 


288  A    TREATISE    ON" 

always  returned.  Sometimes  the  patients  were  coftrve, 
in  others  a  diarrhoea  took  place,  but  in  moft  the  dif- 
charges  were  natural.  No  critical  folution  by  urine  or 
ftool  Teemed  ever  to  take  place.  A  few  cafes  of  haemor- 
rhages from  the  note  and  uterus  were  obferved;  and  if 
they  happened  after  the  fecond  day,  were  foon  followed 
by  a  plentiful  fweat,  which  commonly  proved  critical  ; 
"  a  circumftance  different  from  what  has  been  ufually 
"  obferved  in  the  plague  at  other  places. 

"  From  the  preceding  account  of  the  plague  it  will 
<c  readily  be  conceived  that  nothing  oan  be  more  diffi- 
"  cult  than  to  form  any  judgment  or  prognoftic  of  the 
"  event  of  the  dife-afe  ?  in  which,  as  it  is  juftly  remarked 
"  by  Morellus,  our  fenfes  and  our  reafon  deceive  us,  the 
"  aphonfnis  of  Hippocrates  are  erroneous,  and  even 
*c  Hippocrates  (as  I  am  inclined  to  think)  might  have 
"  erred  in  his  judgment." 

Innumerable  other  hiftories  of  the  diftemper  might  be 
given,  but  the  following,  it  is  hoped,  will  be  fufficienty 
along  with  what  has  been  already  detailed,  to  (how  that 
the  plague  in  former  ages  was  the  fame  as  at  this  day. 
In  the  terrible  plague  which  broke  out  in  the  time  of 
Juftinian,  the  diftemper  fometimes  began  with  deliri- 
um, and  the  patient  inftantly  dtfpaired  of  life ;  but 
more  generally  people  were  furprifed  by  the  fudden 
coming  on  of  a  flight  fever  ;  fo  flight  that  no  danger 
was  apprehended  either  from  the  ftate  of  the  pulfeor  co- 
lour of  the  body.  This,  however,  was  quickly  follow- 
ed, fometimes  even  on  the  fame  day,  fometimes  on  the 
fecond  or  third,  by  buboes  or  parotids  (fwellings  behind 
the  ear)  which  when  opened  were  found  to  contain  a 
black  coal^  or  efchar,  of  the  fize  of  a  lentil.  If  thefe 
fwellings  fuppurated  kindly,  the  patient  recovered,  but 
if  not,  a  mortification  enfued,  and  death  was  the  confe- 
quence,  commonly  on  the  fifth  day.  Black  puftules  or 
carbuncles,  covering  the  body,  were  figns  of  immediate 
death,  as  was  likewife  a  vomiting  of  blood  in  weak  con- 
flitutions  ;  for  this  terminated  in  a  mortification  of  the 
bowels.  Pregnant  women  generally  perifhed,  but  wo- 
men were  lefs  fufceptible  of  the  infe&ion  than  men  ; 

and 


THE  PLAGUE,  289 

and  young  perfons  were  in  more  danger  than  old.  Ma- 
ny, who  recovered,  loft  the  ufe  of  their  fpeech,  and  fuch 
were  not  fecure  from  a  relapfe. 

In  the  laft  plague  at  Mofcow,  the  fymptoms  were  va- 
rious, according  to  the  perfons,  conflitution  and  the  wea- 
ther ;    in  general,  head-ach,  giddinefs,  iliivering,  lofs  of 
ftrength,  flight  fever,  ficknefs  and  vomiting,  rednefs  of 
the  eyes,  white  and  foul  tongue*  with  a  dejeded  counte- 
nance, buboes  and  carbuncles  appearing  on  the  fecond  or 
third  day,  but  feldom  on  the  fourth*     The  buboes  were 
feated   chiefly  in  the  glandular  parts,    the  armpits   and 
groin,  but  fometimes  made  their  appearance  in  the  neck, 
cheeks,  See.     Sometimes  thefe  fuppurated  perfectly,  and 
then  they  proved  beneficial,  but  not  otherwife.     Some- 
times they  fuddenly  difappeared,  after  having  attained 
the  fize  of  walnuts  ;  and  this  retrocefllon  was  always  fup- 
pofed  to  be  a  fign  of  approaching  death.     Sometimes 
they  neither  fliowed  any  fign  of  inflammation  nor  were 
painful,  and  in  fuch  cafes  afforded    no   relief.     Similar 
fwellings  fometimes  occured  in  the  parotid   glands,  but 
they  were  never  equally   beneficial   with  the   buboes. 
Carbuncles  were  gangrenous  fpots  on  the  fkin,  refembling 
a  burn,  with  black,  livid  or  red  veficles,  bordered  with 
an  inflammatory  ring,  and  foon    terminating  in  a  hard, 
black  efchan  The  anthrax  is  more  promi  nent,  penetrating 
deeper  into  the  adipofe  membrane,  and  attended  with 
more  pain  and  inflammation.     The  difeafe  was  likewife 
attended  with  petechiae  fimilar  to  thofe  in  putrid  fevers, 
but  larger  j  alfo  with  vibices,  which  refembled  the  mark 
of  a  whip,  and  were  confidered,  as  well  as  the  petechise, 
as  mortal  figns.     No  diftincl:  account  of  the  pulfe  could 
be  given  ;  as,  after  the  difeafe  became  general,  phyficians 
did  not  choofe  to  feel  the  pulfes  of  their  patients  but 
through  a  glove  or  tobacco-leaf.     Worms   called  teretes 
were  frequently  clifcharged  both  upwards  and  downwards. 
Women  with  child  generally  fuffered  abortion,  and  were 
carried  off  by  an  uterine  haemorrhage.* 

According 

*  Bonetus  relates,  that  in  1676  in  a  malignant  fever  at  Borgo  di  Safia,  th* 
patients  difcharged  live  worms  by  the  mouth,  and  adds  that  they  were  foonef 
killed  by  wine  than  any  thing. 


29o  A    TREATISE  ON 

According  to  Sydenham,  the  plague  begins  with 
chiliinefs  and  fhivering,  like  the  fit  of  an  intermittent, 
fucceeded  in  a  little  time  by  violent  vomiting  and  op- 
prefiion  at  the  bread,  accompanied  with  its  common, 
fymptoms.  Thefe  continue  till  the  difeafe  proves  mor- 
tal, or  the  kindly  eruption  of  a  bubo  or  parotis  difcharges 
the  morbific  matter.  Sometimes,  though  rarely,  the 
difeafe  is  not  preceded  by  any  fever ;  the  purple  fpots, 
which  denote  immediate  death,  coming  out  even  while 
perfons  are  abroad  about  their  bufinefs.  But  this  hardly 
ever  happens  but  in  the  beginning  of  a  very  fatal  plague, 
and  never  while  it  is  on  the  decline,  or  in  thofe  years 
in  which  it  is  not  epidemic.  Sometimes  fwellings  ap- 
pear without  having  been  preceded  either  by  a  fever  or 
any  other  considerable  fymptom  5  but  he  conceives  that 
fome  flight  and  obfcure  fhivering  always  precedes  the 
feizure. 

Mariti,  in  his  travels  through  Cyprus,  &c.  fays  that 
the  plague  of  1760  began  with  lofs  of  appetite,  pain  in 
the  (boulders,  head-ach  extremely  violent,  delirium, 
vomiting,  with  a  moft  excruciating  pain  in  that  part 
where  the  tumour  by  which  the  plague  is  character'* fed, 
is  about  to  break  forth.  Death  often  took  place  on  the 
third  day,  and  very  few  lived  beyond  the  thirteenth. 

The  Abbe's  definition  of  what  he  calls  the  plague,  and 
which  feems  to  be  the  pe/Ulenttal  bubo  of  the  phyficians, 
is  fomewhat  ft'ngular.  "  The  plague  (fays  he)  is  an  ob- 
**  long  tumour,  fhaped  like  a  pumpkin,  which  is  at  firft 
"  of  a  flefht  colour  ;  but  it  gradually  becomes  red,  and 
*e  at  length  blueifh  ;  and  this  is  a  fign  that  the  difeafe 
"  is  incurable.  If  it  continues  red,  and  a  little  after  in- 
<e  dines  to  yellow,  it  is  a  fign  that  a  fuppuration  will 
"  take  place  :  the  fwelling  is  then  opened,  and  the  pa- 
r£  tientis  fometimes  cured." 

According  to  our  author,  the  fymptoms  of  the  plague 
do  not  appear  till  fifteen  days  after  the  infection  is  re- 
ceived ;  and  this  is  the  reafon  of  a  law  which  fubjects  to 
a  proof  of  twenty  days  every  perfon  fufpected  of  being 
difeafed.  In  this  plague  it  was  obferved  that  people  of 
the  foundeft  conflitutions  were  the  moft  fubject  to.  it, 

and 


THE   PLAGUE.  291 

and  the  leaft  capable  of  refitting  it,  On  the  other  hand, 
it  appeared  to  fpare  weak  and  delicate  perfons,  whole 
cure,  in  cafe  of  an  attack,  was  much  lefs  difficult.  A 
greater  number  of  Moors  than  of  any  other  nation  were 
attacked  by  it  ;  and  when  once  they  were  feized,  their 
cafe  was  abfolutely  defperate.  Thofe  who  had  recovered 
from  the  difeafe  were  lefs  liable  to  a  fecond  attack,  but 
were  not  abfolutely  fafe.  "  I  have  known  fomc  (fays 
"  our  author)  who  have  been  ill  feven  times,  and  have 
ec  died  of  it  at  laft." 

Dr.  M'Bride  informs  us  that  in  the  plague  which 
raged  at  Marieilles  and  the  adjacent  places  in  1720, 
people  on  their  firft  feizure  feemed  as  if  intoxicated  with 
drink  ;  they  loft  the  power  of  their  limbs  entirely,  and 
became  fo  deje&ed  that  they  gave  themfelves  over  to 
defpair  from  the  very  firft  attack.  Along  with  the  bi- 
lious vomitings  and  purgings  which  generally  took  place 
on  the  fecond  day,  quantities  of  fmall  worms  like  afca- 
rides  were  thrown  off.  The  more  plentiful  thefe  evacu- 
ations were,  the  more  falutary  ;  for  thofe  who  vomited 
and  purged  but  little  funk  down,  oppreffed  with  the 
difeafe,  and  died  before  the  fourth  day,  covered  with 
livid  blotches  and  petechiae  ,  thofe  who  had  the  largeft 
evacuations  had  alfo  the  moft  plentiful  eruptions  of  bu- 
boes and  parotid  abfceffes.  When  thefe  appeared,  the 
patients  rofe,  walked  about,  and  became  remarkably 
hungry  ;  the  heat  and  thirft  fubfided,  but  the  face  con- 
tinued pale  and  languid,  the  pulfe  hard  and  frequent. 
On  the  fixth,  feven  th,  or  eighth  day,  if  the  fuppuration 
flopped,  and  the  humours  went  back,  then  came  on  op- 
preflion,  difficulty  of  breathing,  furious  delirium  and 
convulfions,  which  ended  in  death.  When  carbuncles, 
or  biles,  with  mortified  Houghs,  appeared  in  different 
parts  of  the  body,  either  alone  or  accompanied  with  the 
glandular  fwellings,  the  patients  fcarcely  ever  efcaped. 
In  great  numbers  of  people  tumours  appeared  without 
any  previous  febrile  fymptom,  and,  in  a  few  cafes,  went 
off  by  refolution  ;  in  others  they  continued  inafchirrous 
date  ;  but  it  was  beft  vvfyen  the  tumours  came  to  fuppu- 
ration. 

Theft 


29*  A    TREATISE    ON 

Thefe  are  the  moft  remarkable  fymptoms  of  this  fatal 
difeafe,  which  have  been  recorded  by  the  phyficians  of 
greateft  eminence  who  have  written  upon  the  fub- 
je<5t.  It  remains  ftill  to  give  fome  particular  defcription 
of  the  buboes  and  carbuncles,  which  are  fuppofed  to 
Conftitute  in  a  particular  manner  the  chara&eriftic  figns 
of  the  diftemper.  Of  thefe  the  following  account,  given 
by  Dr.  Alexander  Ruflel,  feems  to  be  fufficientiy  clear 
and  explicit. 

Only  a  very  few,  and  fuch  as  died  fuddenly,  were 
exempted  from  buboes,  but  only  about  one  half  had 
carbuncles.  In  the  latter  plagues  their  proportion  was 
ftill  frnaller ;  but  they  feldom  appeared  earlier  than  in 
the  months  of  April  or  May.  In  1742  and  1743,  the 
buboes  often  appeared  on  the  firft  commencement  of  the 
diftemper,  fometimes  not  till  twelve  hours  after ,  in  a 
few  inftances  not  till  two  or  three  days ;  but  in  1744 
they  were  fometimes  the  firft  fymptoms  of  the  difeafe. 
The  buboes  were  generally  folitary,  the  inguinal  and 
axillary  more  frequent  than  the  parotid.  "  The  in- 
<l  guinal  bubo  for  the  moft  part  was  double  ;  that  is, 
"  two  diftinct  glands  fwelled  in  the  fame  groin.  The  fu- 
<e  perior,  which  in  fhape  fomewhat  refembled  a  fmall 
"  cucumber,  lay  obliquely  near  the  large  veflels  of  the 
"  thigh,  lower  than  the  venereal  buboes  are  ufually  found, 
"  and  it  was  that  which  commonly  came  to  fuppuration ; 
*'  the  inferior  was  round,  and  in  fize  much  fmaller.  I 
"  once  met  with  a  cafe  in  which  an  axillary  bubo  divided 
"  in  like  manner  into  two  parts,  one  of  which  got  under 
"  the  pe<5toral  mufcle,  the  other  funk  deeper  into  the 
"  armpit :  both  grew  painful  and  inflamed,  but  that  in 
c<  the  armpit  only  fuppurated." 

The  bubo  was  at  firft  a  fmall  hard  tumour,  painful 
but  not  inflamed  externally.  Thefe  indurated  glands 
were  deeply  feated,  fometimes  moveable,  at  others  more 
or  left  fixed,  but  always  painful  to  the  touch.  Some- 
times they  would  increafe  to  a  confiderable  fize  in  a  few 
hours,  with  intenfe  pain,  then  fuddenly  fubfide  ;  and 
thefe  changes  would  take  place  feveral  times  in  twenty- 
four  hours.  "  An  exacerbation  of  the  peftilential  fyntp- 

"  toms 


THE   PLAGUE.  293 

"  toms  immediately  upon  the  decreafe  of  the  bubo,  fome- 
"  times  prompted  me  to  imagine  it  owing  to  the  retro- 
"  ceffion  of  the  tumour  ;  but  this  did  not  happen  fo 
"  conftantly  as  to  make  me  think  it  was  fo  in  reality. 
"  The  buboes,  as  far  as  I  could  learn,  never  advanced 
"  regularly  to  maturation  till  fuch  time  as  a  critical 
"  fweat  had  carried  off  the  fever.  In  ten,  twelve,  or 
"  fifteen  days,  from  the  firft  attack,  they  commonly 
"  fuppurated  -,  having  been  all  along  attended  with  the 
*'  ufual  fymptoms  of  inflammatory  tumours.  But  I 
"  have  known  them  fometimes,  nay,  frequently,  difappear 
(e  foon  after  the  critical  fweat,  and  difcufs  completely 
ft  without  any  detriment  to  the  patient.  At  other 
"  times,  though  grown  to  a  pretty  large  fize,  the  tumour, 
"  about  the  height  of  the  difeafe,  would  fink  and  morti- 
"  fy,  without  any  fatal  confequences  ;  for,  as  foon  as 
"  the  criiis  was  complete,  the  mortification  flopped,  and 
*'  the  gangrened  parts  feparating  gradually,  left  a  deep 
"  ulcer,  which  healed  without  difficulty.  I  met  with 
"  no  inftance  of  a  bubo  in  which  fever  did  not  either 
"  precede  or  follow  the  eruption." 

On  the  fubject  of  carbuncles,  Dr.  Patrick  Ruflel  ob- 
ferves,  that  "  there  are  certainly  varieties  in  them,   but 
"  perhaps  thefe  varieties  have  been  unneceffarily  multi- 
"  plied,  from  the  fame  eruption  having  been  viewed  in 
"  different  ftages  of  its  progrefs  ;  for  all  of  them  fooner 
"  or  later  are  covered  with  a  black  efchar."     Dr.  Alex- 
ander Rufiel  describes  them  as  follows  :  "  The  carbun- 
"  cl.es  were  commonly  protruded  the  fecond  day  of  the 
"  difeafe  $  and  though  the  mufcular  and  tendinous  parts 
"  were  more  efpecially  affected,  no  part  whatever  could 
"  be  faid  to  be  free  of  them.     The  carbuncle  at  firft  re- 
i{  fembled  an  angry  confluent  pock  in  its  inflammatory 
:t  ftage,  but  was  attended  with  intenfe,   burning  pain, 
;*  and  furrounded  by  a  circle  of  a  deep  fcarlet  hue,  which 
ic  foon  became  livid.     By  a  progrefs  very  rapid,  it  then 
*  fpread  circularly,  from  the  fize  of  a  iilver  penny  to  an 
:c  inch  and  an  half,  two  inches,  nay,  even  three  inches, 
"  diameter ;  and  the  fupervening  gangrene  often  pene- 
;"  trated  deep  intp  the  fubftance  of  the  parts  affe&ed. 

<ela 


294       .          A   TREATISE    ON 

"  In  fuch  of  the  fick  as  recovered,  the  gangrene  ufually 
"  ceafed  fpreading  on  the  third  day  ;  and,  a  day  or  two 
"  after,  figns  of  fuppuration  were  obferved  at  the  edge  of 
"  the  black  cruft,  the  feparation  of  which,  advancing 
*'  gradually,  was  completed  rather  in  lefs  time  than  that 
"  of  the  efchar  in  iffues  made  by  cauftic.  In  cafes  where 
**  the  patient  died,  I  was  informed  (for  I  faw  none  of 
M  thofe  cafes  myfclf)  that  a  quantity  of  ichorous  matter 
"oozed  from  beneath  the  efchar,  which  remained  itfdf 
*'  fhrivelled  and  hard,  without  any  favourable  figns  ef 
*c  feparation  or  cligeftion.*'* 

Dr.  Alexander  Ruffel  alfo  defcribes  another  kind  of 
puftule,  which  he  fays  appeared  in  a  fmall  number  of 
the  fick,  but  which  his  brother  Dr.  Patrick  had  no  op- 
portunity of  obferving  in  1760.  It  had  no  livid  ordif- 
coioured  circle  furrounding  it,  but  was  filled  with  lauda- 
ble pus  ;  and,  when  dry,  the  cruil  fell  off,  as  in  the  dif- 
tinc*t  fmall-pox.  This  was  looked  upon  as  a  favoura- 
ble fymptorn,  all  who  had  it  happening  to  recover. 

We  have  now  detailed,  at  confiderable  length,  the 
fymptoms  of  the  plague  as  mentioned  by  authors  of  great 
eminence.  To  give  a  detail  of  all  that  has  been  fa  id 

upon 

? «« I>r.  Gotwald,  formerly  quoted,  defcribes  four  varieties  of  carbuncles*  the 
*'  differences  between  which  feem  to  be  pretty  diftin&ly  marked.  i.  «»  One 
"  kind  rifes  pretty  high,  is  of  a  dark  brown  colour,  the  cuticle  appearing  as 
*'  if  it  were  burnt,  and  it  is  furrounded  with  a  lead-coloured  circle.  In  the 
*  beginning  it  is  no  bigger  than  a  pea,  but,  if  not  prevented,  foon  grows  to 
the  fize  of  a  crown  piece;  inwardly  it  ismoifter  than  the  reft,  and  may  be 
more  eafily  feparated.  Its  feat  is  generally  in  the  fleihy  parts,  as  on  the 
Ihoulders,  neck,  hips,  arms  and  legs.  2.  The  fecond  lie  a  iitlie  deeper* 
and  do  not  rife  fo  high ;  the  efchar  in  the  middle  is  entirely  dark  and 
alh-coloured,  full  of  fmall  chops,  as  if  it  would  burft  by  too  great  drynefs  : 
it  has  a  ftrong  lead-coloured  circle,  behind  which  the  found  f3e(h  looks  red 
and  fhining.  Jt  eats  into  the  fiefh  round  about  it,  and  takes  deep  root :  it 
generally  fixes  in  the  moft  flefhy  parts,  as  the  buttocks,  calves,  &c,  3.  The 
third  is  not  very  large  at  firft  ;  it  appears  like  a  blood  fvvelling,  not  lo  dark 
<«  as  the  former,  with  a  wrinkled  {kin;  as  it  increafes,  fmall  blifters  arife  in 
«« the  middle,  and  form  an  efchar,  in  little  clutters,  which,  as  an  ingenious 
««  phyfician  obferved,  were  fmall  carbuncles.  They  commonly  are  fituated 
«*  in  membranous  and  tendinous  parts  about  the  knees,  toes,  and  behind  the 
«*  ears,  &c.  4.  The  fourth  is  the  moft  curious,  as  Purman,  in  his  treatife  on 
•«  the  plague,  has  well  obforved.  Sitonius  calls  them  pale,  livid,  ulcerous 
«•  papulae  :  they  appear  with  a  high.yellowifh  blifter,  which  leems  full  of  cor- 
«•  ruption  :  the  circle  round  it  is  fnft  red,  then  of  an  a(h  colour  :  the  blifter 
««  loon  falls,  and,  with  the  carbuncle,  appears  fcarce  fo  big  as  a  pepper  corni 
« •  continually  eating  deeper  and  wider.  They  are  feated  upon  the  cartilaginous 
<«  or  griftly  parts.  Gotwald  found  them  near  the  pit  of  the  itcmach,  upon 
"  the  cartilago  enfiformis  and  fhort  ribs.  All  the  four  take  root  and  burn 
?*  very  violently  at  firft,  but  the  two  former  moft  of  all." 


±HE    PLAGUE.  295 

upon  this  fubjeft  would  be  impoffible  >  neither  indeed 
can  it  be  thought  necefTary  in  the  prefent  treatife. 
Whatever  may  have  been  omitted  or  too  flightly  men- 
tioned in  this  fe&ion,  will  naturally  be  confidered  when 
we  come  to  treat  of  the  cure.  It  now  therefore  only  re- 
mains to  fay,  whether  the  approach  of  a  plague  may  be 
known  by  any  vifible  figns,  fo  that  people  might  in 
fome  meafure  prepare  thernfelves  for  the  enfuing  ca- 
lamity. 

Were  we  in  pofleffion  of  an  accurate  and  authentic 
hiftery  of  the  world,  this  queftion  might  be  very  eafily 
decided  j  but  the  uncertainty  of  ancient  records,  the 
mutilated  ftate  of  thofe  which  we  do  poffefs,  the  diverfity 
of  opinions  among  mankind,  and  the  unhappy  difpolition 
to  rtnfreprtjsnt)  fo  common  in  all  ages,  render  it  very  dif- 
ficult to  fay  any  thing  upon  the  fubject.  If  the  theory 
hinted  at  in  this  fedion  (that  plagues  arife  from  fome 
commotion  in  the  electric  fluid)  can  be  allowed  to  have 
any  foundation  in  nature,  then  it  ought  to  follow,  that 
the  forerunners  of  peftilence  would  be  fome  electric 
phenomena  ;  and*  from  a  perufal  of  the  firft  and  fecond 
lections  of  this  work,  it  will  appear  that  fuch  an  opinion 
is  not  altogether  unfounded.* 

The  appearance  of  immenfe  numbers  of  infects  has 
likewife  been  accounted  a  fign  of  approaching  peftilence  ; 
but  if  we  fuppofe  their  appearance  to  be  a  jfr#,  we  can 
fcarce  imagine  their  putrefaction  to  have  been  a  caufe,  of 
peftilence.  In  the  eaft  we  are  informed  by  Dr.  Ruflel 
that  the  inhabitants  of  Aleppo  account  the  appearance  of 
infects,  and  even  eclipfes,  as  prefaces  of  the  plague.  They 
fuppofe  alfo  that  the  ftiilnefs  of  frogs  is  a  fign  of  pefti- 
lence ;  but  the  fame  author  informs  us  that  all  thefe 
figns  failed  in  1760.  Violent  earthquakes  and  famines 
feem  to  be  more  certain  figns,  though  even  thefe  are 
not  always  to  be  depended  upon  ;  it  being  evident 
from  hiftorical  accounts  that  peftilence  has  fometimes 
preceded,  and  fometimes  followed,  earthquake  and  fa- 
mine. Mr.  Gibbon,  however,  afcribes  to  the  above- 
mentioned  caufes5  viz.  infects,  earthquakes,  and  even 

comets, 

See  p,  p.  6ii  <a. 


296  A    TREATISE    ON 

comets,  the  dreadful  plague  which  took  place  in  the 
reign  of  Juftinfon.  At  leaft,  all  thefe  preceded  it;  but 
perhaps  the  infefts  were  only  meant  to  be  accounted  the 
caufe  of  the  plague.  The  caufe  of  the  infefts  muft  remain 
in  obfcurity.  According  to  him,  "  In  a  damp  but 
€C  flagnating  air,  this  African  fever  is  generated  from 
"  the  putrefaction  of  animal  fubflances,  and  efpecially 
"  from  the  fwarms  of  locufts,  not  lefs  deftru&ive  to 
mankind  in  their  death  than  in  their  lives." 

This  dreadful  plague  was  preceded  by  comets  and 
moft  violent  earthquakes.  A  remarkable  comet  appear- 
ed in  536,  fuppofed  to  be  the  great  one  obferved  by  Sir 
Ifaac  Newton  in  1680.  This,  we  are  told  by  aftrono- 
mers,  revolves  round  the  fun  in  a  period  of  575  years  ; 
but  the  failure  of  aftronomical  predictions  in  the  return 
of  the  expected  comets  of  1759  and  1789,  mew  the 
futility  of  fuch  calculations.  Another  comet  appear- 
ed in  539,  and  thefe  comets  were  attended  with  an 
extraordinary  palenefs  of  the  fun.  Mr.  Gibbon  obferves, 
that  earthquakes,  which  he  calls  a  fever  of  the  earth, 
"  raged  with  uncommon  violence  during  the  reign  of 
"  Juftinian.  Each  year  is  marked  by  the  repetition  of 
"  earthquakes  of  fuch  character,  that  Conftantinople  has 
4t  been  lhaken  above  forty  days ;  of  fuch  extent,  that 
"  the  (hock  has  been  communicated  to  the  whole  fur- 
*'  face  of  the  globe,  or  at  lead  of  the  Roman  empire, 
"  An  impulfive  or  vibrating  motion  was  felt ;  enormous 
"  chafms  were  opened,  huge  and  heavy  bodies  were  dif- 
"  charged  into  the  air,  the  fea  alternately  advanced  and 
"  retreated  beyond  its  ordinary  bounds,  and  a  mountain 
"  was  torn  from  Liburnia,  and  thrown  into  the  waves* 
"  where  it  protected  as  a  mole  the  new  harbour  of  Bo- 
"  trys  in  Phenicia." 

According  to  Dr.  Sydenham  the  plague  at  London  in 
1665  was  preceded  by  a  very  cold  winter  ;  the  firft  con-> 
tinued  till  fpring  and  went  off  fuddenly  towards  the  end 
of  March.  Peripneumonies,  pleurifies,  quiniies,  arid 
other  inflammatory  diforders,  then  made  their  appear- 
ance, along  with  an  epidemic  fever  of  a  particular  kind, 
which  did  not  yield  to  the  remedies  fuccefsful  in  other 

epidemics. 


THE    PLAGUE.  297 

epidemics.  About  the  middle  of  the  year  the  plague 
began,  and  increafed  in  violence  till  the  autumnal  equi- 
nox, when  it  began  to  abate,  and  by  the  enfuing  fpring 
was  entirely  gone.  Our  author  fays  that  the  plague  fei- 
dom  rages  violently  in  England  but  once  in  thirty  or 
forty  years ;  but  fince  his  time,  which  is  upwards  of  a 
century,  no  plague  hath  appeared.  He  fuppofes  the 
plague  and  other  epidemics  to  depend  on  fome  fecret 
conftitution  of  the  air*  but  pretends  not  to  fay  what  that 
conftitution  is.  But,  befides  this  conftitution,  he  is  of 
opinion  that  there  muft  be  another  circumftance,  viz. 
the  receiving  the  effluvia  or  feminium  From  an  infected 
perfon.  Thus  he  fuppofes  that  a  {ingle  infected  perfon 
is  fufficient  to  poifon  a  whole  country  ;  the  general  mafs 
of  atmofphere  being  infected  by  the  breath  of  the  difea- 
fed  and  the  effluvia  of  the  dead  bodies.  u  Thus  (fays  he) 
"  the  way  of  propagating  this  dreadful  difeafe  by  infec- 
"  tion  is  rendered  entirely  unnecelfary  ;  for  though  a 
<c  perfon  be  mod  cautioufly  removed  from  the  infected* 
"  yet  the  air  received  in  by  breathing  will  of  itfelf  be 
"  fufficient  to  infect  him,  provided  his  juices  be  difpofed 
*'  to  receive  the  infection.  I  much  doubt,  if  the  difpo- 
"  iition  of  the  air*  though  it  be  peftilential,  is  of  itfelf 
"  able  to  produce  the  plague  ;  but  the  plague  being  at- 
"'ways  in  Tome  place  or  other,  it  is  conveyed  by  peftiien- 
"  tial  particles,  or  the  coming  of  an  infected  perfon  from 
<c  fome  place  where  it  rages,  to  an  uninfected  one,  and 
'"  is  not  epidemic  there,  unlefs  the  conftitution  of  the  air 
*c  favours  it.  Otherwife  I  cannot  conceive  how  it  fhould 
"  happen,  that,  when  the  plague  rages  violently  in  one 
"  town  in  the  fame  climate,  a  neighbouring  one  fhould 
"  totally  efcape  it,  by  ftrictly  forbidding  all  intercourfc 
*'  with  the  infected  places  $  an  inftance  of  which  we  had 
cs  fome  few  years  ago  when  the  plague  raged  with  ex- 
s  treme  violence  in  mod  parts  of  Italy ;  and  yet  the 
^  Grand  Duke,  by  his  vigilance  and  prudence)  entirely 
*'  prevented  its  entering  the  borders  of  Tufcany."  As 
to  the  nature  of  the  difeafej  when  once  produced,  Dr. 
Sydenham  is  of  opinion  that  it  is  altogether  inflammato^ 
ry  i  for  which  he  gives  the  following  reafons  :  i.  The 

Qjq,  colour 


.298  A    TREATISE    ON 

colour  of  blood  taken  away  that  refembles  that  ih  pleu- 
ritic and  rheumatic  diforders.  2.  The  carbuncles  re- 
ferable the  mark  of  an  actual  cautery,  q.  The  buboes 
are  equally  difpofed  to  inflammation  with  any  other  tu- 
mours that  come  to  fuppuration.  4.  The  feafon  of  the 
y^ar  may  be  adduced  in  proof  of  this ;  for  between  fpring 
and  fummer,  inflammatory  diforders,  as  pleurifies,  quin- 
fies,  &c.  are  common. 

Before  we  put  an  end  to  this  fection,  it  may  now  be 
proper  to  fay  a  few  words  by  way  of  apology  for  thfe 
many  apparent  digreffions  from  the  fubject  which  have 
appeared  in  it.  In  the  firft  place,  then,  the  work  being 
intended  'for  general  infpedtion,  and  not  merely  for  me- 
•  dical  readers,  it  became  abfolutely  neceflary  to  intro- 
.  duce  a  number  of  things  which  for  medical  readers 
would  have  been  totally  fuperfluous.  It  was  to  be  fup- 
pofed  that  the  book  might  come  into  the  hands  of  fome 
who  had  not  read  any  thing  concerning  the  ftructure  of 
the  body,  who  had  not  heard  of  any  of  the  fyftems  of 
medicine  now  prevalent,  or  the  different  doctrines  they 
contain.  It  was  impoffible  to  write  in  an  intelligible 
manner  for  fuch  people  without  giving  fome  few  hints 
concerning  all  thefe  fubjects :  the  fame  confederation 
made  it  necefTary  to  enter  pretty  largely  into  the  difco- 
veries  concerning  the  compofition  of  the  atmofphere 
and  various  kinds  of  elaftic  fluids,  concerning  heat,  &c. 
In  doing  this  the  writer  was  under  a  necefllty  either  to 
adopt  fome  of  the  doctrines  he  took  notice  of,  or  to 
animadvert  upon  them.  If  he  has  ventured  freely  to 
give  his  fentiments,  it  is  not  with  a  view  to  eftablifii  a 
theory  of  his  own,  but  to  direct  the  attention  of  the 
reader  to  thofe  natural  agents  which  feem  to  be  at 
prefent  too  much  overlooked,  principally  becaufe  they 
are  lefs  acceflible  to  our  fenfes,  and  of  confequence  lefs 
fubject  to  experiment,  than  others.  If  therefore  in  this 
trcatife  it  is  fuggefted  that  the  atnvofphere  acts  on  the 
human  body  by  its  internal  or  latent  heat,  and  by  its 
'electricity,  as  well  as  by  its  other  properties  j  if  the 
writer  is  inclined  to  believe  that  thefe  are  in  fact  the 
n:oft  powerfulparts  of  it  5  that  we  never  can  act  with- 
out 


THE    PLAGUE.  299 

put  them,  and  that  in  fhort  our  life  and  health  are  in 
immediate  dependence  upon  them  ;    I  fay,  that  none  of 
all  thefe  things  are  in  opposition  to  any  fad:  hitherto 
difcovered,  either  of  the  medical  kind  or  any  other. 
On  the  other  hand,  in  all  ages  phyficians  have  fought 
for  foine  conftitution  in  the  air,  inexplicable,  and  per- 
petually unknown,  to  which  difeafes  might  be  alcribed 
that  could  not  be  fuppofed  to  originate  from  any  of  its 
ordinary  properties.     To  explore  this  conftitution  is  as 
great  a  defideratum  at  the  prefent  moment  as  two  thou- 
fand  years  ago  ;   and  any  attempt  to  inveftigate  it,  or  a 
conjecture  relating  to  it,  cannot  be  fuppofed  inconfif- 
tent  with  any  thing  already  difcovered  and  afcertained. 
There   are  many  things  which  fead   us  to  think   that 
electricity   is  very    much  concerned   in   difeafes,    and 
and  among  the  reft  we  muft  account  the  new  difcovery 
of  Dr.    Perkins's  metallic  conductors  a  very  notable 
proof  of  it;     Thefe,  when  firft  ufhered  into  the  world, 
were  made  by  many  a  fubject  of  ridicule  ;  but  the  evi- 
dence in  favour  of  their  efficacy,  both  in  America  and 
in  various  parts  of  Europe,  feems  now  to  be  decifive  in 
their  favour;  and,  if  they  act  at  all,  it  is  almoft  impof- 
fible  to  fuggeft  any  other  principle  than  that  of  electri- 
city to  which  their  efficacy  can  be  owing.     No  doubt 
it  is  difficult  to  draw  the  line  properly  betwixt  credulity 
and  fkepticifm,  but  where  credible  teftimony  determines 
any  thing  to  have  actually  happened,  or  where  folid  rea- 
foning  gives  room  to  fuppofe  any  thing  to  be  probable, 
it  never  can  be  invalidated  by  any  argument  a  priori 
formed  againft  the  pqffi-bility  of  fuch  a  thing  taking  place. 
In  page  128  it  is  faid,  that  M.  Lavoifier,  by  introdu- 
cing the  new  chemical  nomenclature,  "  has  entailed  the 
greateft  curfe  upon  the  fcience  it  ever  met  with."     An 
apology  for  this  bold  affertion  is   abfolutely   necefTary, 
and  the  quotation  made  from  Dr.  Ferriar  may  be  deem- 
ed inadequate,  or  perhaps  mifapplied.      In  paffing  this 
cenfure  on  the  nomenclature  I  wrote  from  experience. 
The  new  nomenclature,  inftead  of  promoting  my  improve- 
ment in  chemiftry,  hath  had  a  direct  contrary  tendency, 
inftajice  of  the  inconvenience  and  ambiguity  ariflng 

from 


A  TREATISE    ON 

from  it  is  given  p.  135,  when  fpeaking  of  Dr.  Girtan- 
ner's  theory.  But  a  much  more  remarkable  example  is 
to  be  met  with  in  the  review  of  Dr.  Monro's  Chemi- 
cal Treatife,  where  we  find  him  cenfured  for  the  very 
fame  ambiguity  taken  notice  of  with  regard  to  Dr.  Gir- 
tanner,  u  He  might  have  obferved  (fay  the  reviewers) 
"  the  diftindion  between  the  hydrogen  and  inflamma- 
"  b!e  air,  and  between  the  oxygen  and  pure  air5  as  well 
"  as  between  the  azote  and  impure  air  :  he  has  men- 
"  tioned  thefe  as  fynonimous,  whereas  they  are  terms 
"'  that  exprefs  bafes,  or  fubftances  in  a  concrete  fiate 
"  (what  I  have  called  the  condenfable  part)  and  the  com- 
*'  pounds  of  thefe  fubilances  and  heat,  when  they  af- 
"  fume  the  form  qfgafes  or  elaftic  fluids."  (Monthly 
Rev.  for  1790,  p..  26.) 

That  the  terms  invented  by  Lavoifier  and  others  have 
not   been    received  with   perfect  unanimity  by  the  che- 
niifts  of  the  prefent  day,  is  evident  from  Dr.  Pearfon's 
"  Tranflation    of  the  New   Chemical  Nomenclature," 
which  is  not  only  ^tranjlation,  \>\&&  vindication  of  it.     In 
the   courfe  of  his  work  he  quotes  the  tranflator  of  the 
Chemical   Dictionary  faying,  that,  "  from  the  zeal   of 
"  reforming  language,  fuch  a  number  of  reformers  may 
"  arife,  that  our  ears  will  not  be  lefs  ftunned,  nor  our 
"  underftandings  lefs  perplexed,  than  if  we   were  expo- 
"  fed  to  the  clamour  of  Babel,  or  the  thaw  of  ivords  of 
<c  Sir  John  Mandeville."     To  this   Dr.  Pearfon  replies, 
that  there  is  no  reafon  to  fear  any  fuch  bad  confequences. 
^  The  diftinguilhed  fuperiority  of  a  fyPcem  produced  by 
"  a  De  Guy  ton,  a  Lavoifier,  or  a  Eergman,  would  furely 
"  fupercede  the  work  of  perfons  of  inferior  ability"     It 
is  impoffible  to  know  the  perfons  here  defignated,  unlefs 
the  Doctor  points  them  out.     If  he  choofes  to  call  him- 
fe/fone   of  them,  we  can  have  no  objection.     He  cer- 
tainly has   diffented,  in    one  article,  from  "  the  fyftem 
produced  by  De  Guy  ton,  Lavoifier  and  Bergman,"  and 
{his  is  with  regard  to  the  word  azote.     This  is  the  term 
announced  to  us  as  the  moft  proper  for  denoting  a  certain 
kind  of  air.     But  Dr.  Pearfon  determines  nitrogen  to  be 
fnore   proper.     Even  this  has  not  given  entire  fatisfae- 

tiorv 


THE    PLAGUE, 


tion,  for  Dr.  Mitchell  has  adopted  the  vtotifabton  in 
preference  to  both  azote  and  nitrogen.  Thus,  inftead  of 
the  original  phrafe  phlogi/Kcated  #/V,  ufed  by  Dr.  Prieft- 
ley,  we  have  four  ;  for  as  long  as  the  works  of  Dr.  Prieft- 
ley  remain,  the  original  term  will  be  ufed  by  fome,  while 
with  others  it  will  be  fo  much  difufed  that  perhaps  they 
will  not  underftand  it  when  it  happens  to  occur.  Nor 
are  corrections  of  this  kind  all  that  we  have  to  fear.  Pro- 
feffor  Wiegleb,  who  has  written  a  Syftem  ofChemiftry 
in  quarto,'  has  therein  changed  almoft  all  the  nomencla- 
ture invented  by  Lavofier.  Inftead  of  it  he  gives  a  no- 
menclature of  his  own,  in  which  he  makes  very  much 
ufe  of  the  termination  cratla^  from  a  Greek  word  fignify- 
Ing  ftrength  j  thus,  inftead  of  faying  the  acid  of  fluor, 
we  are  to  fay  fluoricratia.  I  muft  confefs  that  to  me 
the  perpetual  repetition  of  this  termination  has  a  very 
ridiculous  appearance  $  but  the  misfortune  is,  that  in 
the  cafe  of  nomenclatures  we  have  no  choice.  We  can- 
not choofe  one  and  reject  another  :  good  or  bad,  we 
muft  take  both  ;  and  were  an  hundred  new  ones  to  arife, 
we  muft  be  condemned  to  learn  them  all.  Nor  is  even, 
this  the  word.  Wiegleb's  fcholars,  for  inftance,  accuf- 
tomed  to  the  language  of  their  teacher,  will  be  apt  to 
put  it  into  their  writings,  perhaps  without  proper  expla- 
nation ;  and  <  thus  fuch  writings  muft  be  unintelligible 
both  to  old  and  new  chemifts  :  and  thus  it  will  be  with 
as  many  others  as  choofe  to  invent  new  chemical  terms. 

Were  this  a  proper  place  for  entering  into  a  difcuffion 
of  Lavoifier's  nomenclature,  it  might  eafily  be  mown 
that  the  terms  are  not  more  proper  than  thofe  which 
preceded  them  ;  but  no  real  inconvenience  can  arife  from 
the  propriety  or  impropriety  of  a  mere  name.  It  is  the 
resemblance  of  the  terms  to  one  another,  and  the  facility 
with  which  miftakes  may  be  made,  that  gives  juft  ground 
of  complaint.  Nor  is  it  any  juft  reafon  to  accufe  a  per- 
fon  of  want  of  judgment  or  careleflhefs  becaufe  he  hath 
miftaken  thefe  terms.  We  fee  that  even  Dr.  Monro  has 
not  attended  to  every  circumftance ;  and  if  a  man  of 
Jiis  experience  and  accuracy  hath  been  inaccurate  in  this 
f efpejft,  what  is  to  be  expected  from  others  ?  How 

eafily 


3oz  A   TREATISE   ON 

eafily  may  the  words  fulfate,  fulfite.,  fulphwet and  fulpJiure, 
be  miftaken  for  one  another,  either  in  writing  or  con- 
verfation  !  Yet  a  miftake  of  this  kind  would  totally 
pervert  the  meaning  of  the  perfon  who  ufed  it.  The 
fcripture  finds  fault  with  thofe  who  make  people  offend- 
ers for  a  wordy  but  here  we  are  in  danger  of  being 
made  offenders  for  a  letter.  In  fhort,  taking  into  ac- 
count the  inconveniences  ariiing  from  this  nomencla- 
ture itfelf,  the  numberlefs  corrections  and  amendments 
(no  matter  whether  real  or  imaginary)  to  which  it  may 
be  fubjecled,  and  the  number  of  others  totally  different 
from  it  which  may  arife,  I  cannot  help  looking  upon 
the  introduction  of  it  into  chemiftry  as  an  evil  of  the 
firil  magnitude  $  an  evil  which  cannot  be  remedied  by 
any  art,  but  muft  continually  become  worfe  and  worfe. 


SECTION   IV. 

Of  the  left  Methods  of  Preventing  the  Plague. 

THESE  methods  may  be  claffed  in  the  following 
manner  :  i.  Thofe  moft  proper  for  avoiding 
the  infection,  fuppofing  the  difeafe  to  be  infectious. 
2.  The  proper  mode  of  refilling  or  removing  thofe  local 
caufes  which  may  give  rife  to  it,  OF  may  co-operate  with 
the  infectious  matter  in  giving  greater  force  to  the  dif- 
eafe, fhould  it  happen  to  be  introduced  ;  and,  3.  The 
bed  method  of  preparing  the  body  for  refitting  peftilen- 
tial  attacks,  fhould  we  happen  to  be  fo  fituated  that  no 
external  method  of  defence  could  be  ufed. 

With  regard  to  the  firft  of  thefe  intentions  the  flying 
from  places  infected  has  been  fo  univerfally  recommend- 
ed, and  fo  generally  received,  that  the  precept  has  been 
made  up  into  the  following  proverbial  Latin  diftich  ; 

««  Hoec  tria  tabificam  tollunt  adverbia  peftera 
«  Mox,  longe,  tarde,  cede,  recede,  redi." 

Thefe  tuerds  prevent    the  plague's  itrfefliotes  paint 
Co  quick,  Jty  far>«Wflow  return  again. 

This  maxim   hath    been    put  in  execution  in  all  -ages,, 
often  with  fo  little  regard  to  humanity  that  it  can-i 

not 


THE    PLAGUE.  3*J 

ftot  by  any  rneans:be  recommended 'without  very  con- 
fiderable  limitation.  The  reparation  of  theflck  from  all 
promifcous  intercourfe  with  the  found,  in  times  of  pefti- 
lence,  feems  to  be  dictated  by  common  fenfe  ;  but  'this 
tnay  be  done  without  killing  them,  or  leaving'them  to 
expire  in  the  miferable  ftate  to  which  they  are  reduced  by 
the  difeafe.  Mr.  Howard  -informs  us  that  in  feme  places 
(hips  which  have  the  plague  on  board  are  chafed  away  and 
burnt ;  and  iriftaftces  of  cruelty  with  regard  to  infected 
individuals  halve  been  formerly  mentioned.  Dr.  Mer- 
tens  is  of  opinion  that  cutting  off  all  the  communication 
between  the  infe&ed  and  healthy  is  the  only  means 
of  preventing  the  difeafe  from  fpreading.  The  good  of 
this  practice  was  obferved  in  one  of  the  hofpitalsat  Mof- 
cow.  All  the  avenues  to  it  were  fhu't  up,  but  one  which 
was  ftrictly  guarded,  and  every  fufpedted  article  prohi- 
bited from  entering.  Infe&ed  clothes  and  utenfils  were 
burned,  and  the  houfes  where  the  fick  had  lived  were 
purified  by  the  fumes  of  vinegar  and  gun-powder. 

In  this  mode  of  prevention  it  is  of  the  utmoft  confe- 
quence  to  afcertain  the  diftance  to  which  the  contagion 
extends  ;  in  the  next  place  to  know  whether  by  means 
of  clothes,  cotton  Or  other  kinds  of  merchandife  it  may 
be  imported  from  one  place  to  another  ;  and  in  the  third 
place  how  long  "the  infection  may  remain  in  thefe  kinds 
of  goods  ,  fo  that  people  may  know  when  the  danger  is 
over.  As  to  the  diftance,  it  feems  to  be  generally  agreed, 
that  it  is  but  ftnall.  Some  of  the  anfwers  to  Mr.  How- 
ard by  the  phyficians  of  whom  he  inquired,  have  been 
already  related.  Of  the  infection  of  the  plague  he  fpeaks 
in  the  following  manner : 

"  In  my  opinion  this  diflemper  is  not  generally  to  be 
cc  taken  by  the  touch,  any  more  than  the  gaol-fever  or 
"  fmali-pox  ;  but  either  by  inoculation,  or  by  taking 
"  in  with  the  breath  the  putrid  effluvia  which  hover 
IC  round  the  infected  body;  and  which,  when  admitted, 
"  fet  the  whole  mafs'of  blood  into  fermentation,  and 
"  fometimes  fo  fuddenly  and  violently  as  to  deftroy  its 
"  whole  texture,  and  to  produce  putrefaction  and  death 
<*  in  48  hours.  Thofe  effluvia'  are  capable  of  being 

<c  carried 


3o4  A    TREATISE    ON 

"  carried  from  one  place  to  another,  upon  any  fubftancci 
"  where  what  is  called  /cent  can  lodge  $  as  upon  wool, 
"  cotton,  &C;  and  in  the  fame  manner  that  the  fmell  of 
<c  tobaco  is  carried  from  one  place  to  another." 

"  The  infection  in  the  air  does  not  extend  far  from 
<c  the  infected  object,  but  lurks  chiefly  (like  that  near 
"  carrion)  to  the  leeward  of  it.  I  am  fo  affured  of  this, 
"  that  I  have  not  fcrupled  going,  in  the  open  air,  to 
"  windward  of  a  perfon  ill  of  the  plague  to  feel  his  pulfe. 
<c  The  rich  are  lefs  liable  to  the  plague  than  the  poor* 
"  both  becaufe  they  are  more  careful  to  avoid  infection, 
"  and  have  more  large  and  airy  apartments,  and  becaufe 
•-"  they  are  more  cleanly,  and  live  on  better  food,  and 
"  plenty  of  vegetables ,  and  this  I  fuppofe  is  the  reafon 
<c  why  Proteftants  are  lefs  liable  to  this  diftemper  than 
."  Catholics  during  their  times  of  fading,  and  likewife 
"  why  the  generality  of  Europeans  are  lefs  liable  to  it 
16  than  the  Greeks,  and  particularly  Jews. 

"  It  is  remarkable  that,  when  the  corpfe.is  cold  of  a  per- 
"  fon  dead  of  the  plague,  it  does  not  infect  the  air  bjr 
"  any  noxious  exhalations.  This  is  fo  much  believed 
"  in  Turky,  that  the  people  there  are  not  afraid  to  han- 
"  die  fuch  corpfes.  The  governor  of  the  French  hof- 
"  pital  at  Smyrna  told  me,  that,  in  the  laft  dreadful 
<c  plague  there,  his  houfe  was  rendered  almoft  intolerable 
"  by  an  ofFenfive  fcent ;  efpecially  if  he  opened  any  of 
"  thofe  windows  which  looked  towards  the  great  burying- 
ce  ground,  where  numbers  every  day  were  left  unburied  ; 
"  but  that  it  had  no  effect  on  the  health  of  himfelf  or 
.«  family." 

It  is  likewife  a  matter  of  the  utmoit  importance  to 
.afcertain  the  time  at  which  the  difeafe  is  introduced  into 
any  town  or  diftrict.  Dr.  Caneftrinus,  in  a  treatife  on 
this  diftemper,  publimed  at  Saltzburg,  complains  greatly 
of  the  diflenfions  among  phyficians  concerning  the  na- 
ture of  the  diftemper,  owing  to  which  its  exiftence  is 
frequently  denied,  and  thus  its  ravages  are  propagated 
immenfely  beyond  the  limits  which  might  otherwife 
circumfcribe  them.  Of  this  he  gives  the  following  re- 
markable inftance  ;  "  In  the  year  1770  a  difeafe  witk 

<c  uncommon 


THE    PLAGUE.  305 

"  uncommon  fymptoms  prevailed  at  Bodrogh  in  Up- 
*'  per  Hungary,  which  carried  off  a  number  of  perfons 
"  in  a  ftiort  time.  A  phyfician  of  the  county  of  Zem- 
"  plin  was  fent  to  inquire  into  the  nature  of  the  malady. 
"  He  reported  that  the  difeafe  was  of  a  fufpicious  na- 
<c  ture,  having  a  great  refemblance  to  the  plague.  His 
"  report  was  received  by  the  nobility  and  health-officers 
"  with  indignation,  as  if  untrue.  Another  was  fent, 
"  who,  without  hefitation,  pronounced  the  difeafe  an 
"  epidemic  fcurvy.  In  the  mean  time  the  difeafe,  be- 
"  ing  left  to  itfelf,  fpread  wider,  and  raged  with  fuch 
"  violence  as  to  carry  off  feventeen  perfons  in  one  houfe. 
"  The  nature  of  the  difeafe  now  becoming  apparent, 
"  proper  meafures  were  taken,  and  the  infe&ed  fepa- 
"  rated  from  the  found,  by  which  means  the  difeafe  was 
"confined  within  a  fmall  diftrift.*"  With  regard  to 
the  infeftion  of  the  difeafe,  or  contagion,  as  it  is  com- 
monly called,  he  exprefles  himfelf  as  follows  :  "  The  air 
"  is  not  capable  of  diffufing  the  contagion  to  any  con- 
"  iiderable  diilance  from  the  infe&ed  fubjeft  unimpaired 
"  in  its  power,  but,  like  other  poifonous  matter,  it  is 
"  capable  of  dilution  in  the  atmofphere,  fo  as  to  be 
"  rendered  at  length  innoxious.  The  contagion  of  the 
"  plague  will  be  entirely  prevented  from  fpreading  if  all 
"  accefs  to,  and  all  intercourfe  with,  the  fick  be  ftridly 
"  prohibited  :  whence  the  following  forms  a  fafe  and 
"  infallible  prophylactic  of  the  difeafe  : 

««  Mox,  longe*  tardd  cedef  recedet  redi. 
««  Go  quick,  fiy  far,  and  flow  return  again.*' 

<c  No  change  in  the  habit  takes  place  previous  to  the 
£<  aftion  of  the  contagion,  but  the  body  is  from  the  firft 
"  equally  fufceptible  of  it  as  of  the  itch,  or  any  other 
st  infedious  difeafe.  Whilft  the  plague  ceafes  in  the 
;c  civilized  parts  of  Europe  fpontaneoufly,  or  by  human 
"  precautions,  its  revival  is  prevented,  from  the  care  that 
<£  is  bellowed  in  purifying  or  deftroying  every  infedled 
<£  fubftance.  In  the  eaft,  on  the  contrary,  this  precau- 
"  tion  is  totally  neglected  ;  whence  it  is  probable  that 
**  the  difeafe  is  not  reproduced  anew,  but  that  it  is  per- 

"  petuated 

*  Medical  Review,  vol.  iii,  p.  257* 

Rr 


•;o6  A    TREATISE   ON 

"  petuated  by  the  former  fomes,  as  happens  with  us  in 
"  the  fmall-pox.  The  matter  producing  the  ordinary 
"  epidemics  is  widely  diffufed  in  the  atmofphere,  and 
"  capable  of  infecting  through  a  widely  extended  (pace. 
"  The  peftilential  poifon,  on  the  contrary,  is  confined 'to 
<c  the  vicinity  of  the  affected  body,  and  becomes  fo  dilute 
"  at  the  diftance  of  a  few  paces  only  as  to  be  incapable  of 
"  further  action.  Hence  it  appears  that  the  plague  is 
"  much  eafier  avoided  than  epidemic  diforders.  The 
"  more  abundant  the  contagious  matter  is,  the  further 
"  probably  is  the  power  of  its  infection  carried.  This 
"  is  the  reafon  that  the  mere  feparation  of  the  lick  and 
"  fufpected  from  the  healthy  is  fo  much  more  efficacious 
"  in  deftroying  it  at  its  commencement  than  at  a  later 
"  period.  To  reftrain  epidemics  within  bounds  is  impof- 
"  fible  -3  but  with  the  contagion  of  the  plague,  it  is  cer- 
"  tain  that  it  can  be  confined  by  art  to  a  narrow  fpot." 
Of  the  truth  of  this  laft  aflertion  our  author  gives  a 
remarkable,  inftance  in  his  own  practice  about  the  time 
that  the  plague  flopped  at  Bodrogh.  Having  been 
fent  into  Caflbvia,  along  with  two  other  phyficians,  they 
were  informed  by  the  furgeon  of  the  lazaretto,  that  an 
unufual  difeafe  had  broken  out  in  the  diftrict  of  Zboina, 
which  had  fuddenly  proved  fatal  to  many.  On  inquiry 
it  was  found  that  it  had  come  from  Bodrogh  in  the 
following  manner:  Two  young  men,  returning  from 
the  vintage  at  Tokay,  ilept  a  night  in  an  infected  houfe, 
and  ftole  fome  clothes  belonging  to  thofe  who  had  died 
of  the  plague.  He  who  carried  the  clothes  died  by  the 
way  :  his  father  carried  home  the  bundle,  kept  them 
unpacked  for  fome  weeks,  but  having  at  laft  worn  them, 
he  and  all  his  family  fell  victims  to  the  fame  difeafe. 
The  peflilcnce  began  to  fpread,  and  {hewed  an  appear- 
ance of  great  malignity.  Our  author  did  not  hefitate 
to  declare  its  true  nature,  and  in  confequence  of  his 
declaration  all  communication  was  cut  off  between  the 
adjacent  countries  and  the  infected  fpot,  by  a  cordon  of 
the  military.  The  infected  were  feparated  from  fuch  as 
were  only  fufpected,  and  thefe  laft  from  the  found  : 
three  infected  houfes  were  deftroyed  by  fare,  and  other 

means 


THE    PLAGUE.  307 

means  (to  be  afterwards  related)  were  ufed  with  a  view 
to  deflroy  the  contagion  itfelf.  Thus  the  difeafe  was 
prevented  from  fpreading ;  and  none  but  fuch  as  had 
been  previously  fufpected  werefeized. 

To  the  fame  purpofe  the  Abbe  Poiret  thinks  it  an 
eafy  matter  to  extinguifh  the  plague  entirely.  He  was 
a  witnefs  to  the  ravages  of  the  difeafe  in  Barbary,  and 
thinks  it  the  mod  eafily  avoided  of  any  diftemper ;  but 
the  misfortune  is,  that  there  are  many,things  in  their  own 
nature  very  eafily  accomplifhed,  which  the  inattention 
or  perverfenefs  of  mankind  render  utterly  im practicable. 
Such,  it  is  to  be  feared,  is  the  extinction  of  the  plague 
by  the  means juft  mentioned;  for  though  thefe  means 
might  be  enforced  in  a  country  diflricl;  or  fmall  town, 
yet,  where  the  peftilence  enters  a  large  and  populous  city, 
there  are  fo  many  modes  of  concealing  its  exiftence,  and 
the  unknown  intercourfe  of  the  lick  with  the  found 
muft  be  fo  frequent,  that  it  feems  fcarce  poffible  to  pre- 
vent the  malady  from  fpreading, 

In  London,  whether  it  arofe  from  a  neglect  of  ufing 
the  precautions  for  too  long  a  time,  or  from  any  other 
caufe,  cannot  well  be  known  ;  but  the  attempts  of  the 
magistrates  to  feparate  the  lick  frem  the  found  cer- 
tainly were  not  attended  with  any  good  confequence. 
"  The  confirmation  (fays  Dr,  Hodges)  of  thole  who 
"  were  thus  feparated  from  all  fociety,  unlefs  of  the  in- 
"  fefted,  was  inexpreffible,  and  the  difmal  apprehenfions 
"  it  laid  them  under  made  them  but  an  eafier  prey  to  the 
"  devouring  enemy.  And  this  feclufion  was  on  this 
"  account  much  the  more  intolerable,  becaufe,  if  a  frefh 
"  perfon  was  feized  in  the  fame  houfe  but  a  day  before 
"  another  had  finifhed  the  quarantine,  it  was  to  be  per- 
"  formed  over  again  ;  which  occafioned  fuch  tedious 
"  confinements  of  lick  and  well  together,  as  fometimes 
:t  caufed  the  lofs  of  the  whole.  Moreover,  this  fhuN 
;c  ting  up  of  infected  houfes  made  the  neighbours  fly 
"  from  theirs,  who  might  otherwife  have  been  a  help  to 
:<  them  on  many  accounts ;  and  I  verily  believe  that 
"  many  who  were  loft  might  have  been  alive,  had  not 
?-  the  tragical  mark  upon  their  doors  driven  proper  affif* 

«  tanco 


A    TREATISE    ON 

"  tance  from  them.  And  this  is  confirmed  by  the  exatn- 
"  pies  of  other  peftilential  contagions,  which  have  been 
"  obferved  not  to  ceafe  until  the  doors  of  the  fick  were  fet 
:c  open^,  and  they  had  the  privilege  of  going  abroad." 
The  iJoclor  fets  forth  alfo  the  arguments  on  the  other 
fide  ;  but  whatever  might  have  been  the  advantages  of 
a  feparation  of  the  fick  from  the  healthy,  if  conducted 
in  a  manner  lefs  capable  of  hurting  the  feelings  of  hu- 
manity, it  is  evident  that  in  the  London  plague  the 
methods  attempted  to  prevent  the  difeafe  at  Jeaft  did 
no  good. 

In  countries  where  the  plague  generally  prevails,  and 
the  Europeans  are  united  in  the  opinion  that  it  is  necef- 
fary  to  feparate  themfelves  from  the  natives,  the  method 
of  (hutting  up  is  attended  with  the  mod  falutary  effects, 
as  has  been  attefted  by  almoft  every  traveller  who  has  re- 
iided  there  for  any  time.  Accidents  among  them  are 
very  rare,  though  not  altogether  without  example.  At 
Alexandria  in  Egypt,  M.  Volney  tells  us,  that  as  foon 
as  the  plague  makes  its  appearance  the  European  mer- 
chants fhut  themfelves  up  in  their  khans  and  have  no 
communication  with  the  reft  of  the  city.  Their  provi- 
fions  are  depofited  at  the  gate  of  the  khan,  and  received 
there  by  the  porter,  who  takes  them  up  with  iron  tongs, 
and  plunges  them  into  a  barrel  of  water  provided  for  the 
purpofe.  If  it  is  neceffary  to  fpeak  to  any  one,  they 
keep  at  fuch  a  diftance  as  to  prevent  touching  with  their 
clothes,  or  breathing  on  one  another ;  by  which  means 
they  preferve  themfelves  from  this  dreadful  calamity,  un- 
lefs  by  fome  accidental  neglect  of  thefe  precautions. 
Some  years  ago  a  cat,  which  paffed  by  one  of  the  terraces 
into  the  houfes  of  the  French  merchants  at  Cairo,  convey- 
ed the  plague  to  two  of  them,  one  of  whom  died.  This 
flate  of  imprifonment  continues  for  three  or  four  months, 
during  which  time  they  have  no  other  amufement  than 
walking  in  the  evening  on  the  terraces,  or  playing  at 
Cards. 

The  doctrine  of  predeftination,  and  ftill  more  the  bar- 
barifm  of  the  government,  have  hitherto  prevented  the 
Turks  from  attempting  to  guard  againft  this  deftruetive 

difeafe  ; 


THE  PLAGUE.  309 

difeafe  :  the  fuccefs,  however,  of  the  precautions  taken 
by  the  French,  has  of  late  begun  to  make  fome  impref- 
fion  upon  many  of  them.  The  Chriftians  of  the  country 
who  traffic  with  the  French  merchants,  would  (hut 
themfelves  up  like  them  ;  but  this  cannot  be  done 
without  permiffion  from  the  Porte.  A  lazaretto  was 
fome  years  ago  eftablifhed  at  Tunis  ;  but  the  Turkifli 
police  is  every  where  fo  wretched,  that  little  can  be  hoped 
for  from  thofe  eftabliihments,  notwithftanding  their  ex- 
treme importance  to  commerce  and  the  fafety  to  the 
Mediterranean  flates.  The  very  laft  year  afforded  a 
proof  of  this ;  for  as  violent  a  plague  as  ever  was  known 
broke  out  there.  Jt  was  brought  by  vefTels  coming 
from  Conftantinople,  the  mailers  of  which  corrupted 
the  guards,  and  came  into  port  without  performing  qua- 
rantine. Water  carriers  have  never  been  attacked  by  it* 
Mariti  fays,  that  in  the  ifland  of  Cyprus,  and  on  the 
continent  of  Syria,  every  European,  on  the  flighted  ap- 
pearance of  the  plague,  after  taking  the  neceflary  precau- 
tions, (huts  himfelf  up  with  his  family.  The  Mahome- 
tans alone,  more  intrepid,  go  abroad  as  ufual,  converfe 
with  each  other,  give  fuch  affirmance  to  each  other  as  may 
be  neceflary,  and  often  fly  to  the  relief  of  a  Chriftian 
when  deferted  by  his  friends.  This  arifes  from  their  be- 
lief in  predeftination.  The  Mahometans  of  Syria,  how- 
ever, lefs  familiarized  with  this  fcourge,  make  ufe  of 
fome  precautions,  which  were  augmented  in  1760. 
They  publifhed  an  ordonnance  forbidding  every  veflel 
attacked  by  the  plague  to  enter  their  ports  :  but  their 
vigilance  in  this  refpeft  was  fo  remifs,  that  it  was  not  fuf- 
ficient  to  prevent  the  contagion.  The  governor  of  Acre 
checked  the  progrefsof  this  plague,  by  giving  the  inha- 
bitants the  means  of  retiring  from  its  ravages  ;  and  thefe 
means,  though  abfolutely  contrary  to  the  dogmas  of  the 
Mahometan  religion,  were  eagerly  embraced.  The  Eu- 
ropeans became  their  models ;  and  the  governor,  after 
deriving  from  them  every  neceflary  information,  (hut 
himfelf  up,  after  their  example,  together  with  his  nume- 
rous family.  The  mufti  alone,  being  the  protedor  of 
the  Mahometan  law,  cannot  imitate  a  condudt  which 

that 


A   TREATISE    ON 

that  law  condemns.  Inftead  of  (hutting  himfelf  up  in 
a  prudent  confinement,  he  thundered  forth  againft  this 
new  method,  reproached  the  governor  for  his  conduct, 
and,  having  treated  him  as  an  impious  perfon,  threatened 
him  with  all  the  vengeance  of  Heaven.  The  governor, 
however,  only  laughed  at  this  pious  folly  of  the  mufti, 
and  fent  a  detachment  of  foldiers  to  impofe  on  him  a 
fine  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  fequins,  for  having  dared 
to  afcribe  to  him,  in  matters  of  religion,  an  ignorance, 
from  every  fufpicion  of  which  his  age  ought  to  have  fe- 
cured  him. 

In  the  time  of  plague,  the  proper  precautions  are,,  to 
iliut  one's  felf  clofely  up,  and  to  receive  no  provifions  or 
other  things,  except  thofe  on  which  the  plague  has  no 
influence.  The  people  of  Syria,  however,  in  1760,  ad- 
mitted every  kind  of  provifions  without  fear,  but  not 
without  ufing  certain  precautions.  They  did  not  receive 
warm  bread  ;  ftefh  of  every  kind  was  thoroughly  waflied, 
and  milk  was  drained  through  a  linen  cloth,  in  order  to 
free  it  from  the  fmalleft  particle  of  animal  hair.  All 
kinds  of  pulfe  were  foakecl  in  water,  and  they  abftained 
from  peaches,  apricots,  and  other  fruits  which  are  covered 
with  a  downy  rind.  Fowls  were  cooked  out  of  the  houfe, 
for  fear  that  fome  fmall  feather  might  adhere  to  them. 
Flowers  were  altogether  profcribed.  Letters  were  open- 
ed by  the  perfon  who  brought  them  ;  and  they  were  never 
read  until  they  had  been  fteeped  long  enough  in  vine- 
gar to  be  purified  without  effacing  the  writing.  Every 
thing  was  received  into  the  houfe  by  means  of  a  rope  of 
herbage  fufpended  from  a  window.  The  governor  em- 
ployed every  precaution  which  he  thought  likely  to  guard 
him  from  the  contagion  ;  and,  by  (hutting  himfelf  clofely 
up,  he  fet  an  example  which  the  reft  of  the  Mahometans 
did  not  neglect  to  follow.  Befides  this  rue  caufed  the 
ilreets  to  be  cleanfed  ;  and  carried  his  vigilance  fo  far  as 
to  forbid  the  caravans  which  arrived  from  Damafcus, 
where  the  plague  fwept  off  four  or  five  •  thoufand 
people  every  day,  to  enter  the  city.  He  obliged  them  to 
fubmit  to  a  proof  of  eight  days  without  the  walls,  and 
cftablifhed  regulations  of  the  fame  kind  refpecting  veffels 

coming 


THE   PLAGUE.  311 

coming  from  Alexandria  orDamietta.  One  precaution 
taken  in  the  time  of  plague  is,  to  prevent  cats  from  enter- 
ing houfes :  an  open  war  is  therefore  declared  againft 
thefe  animals  ;  and,  wherever  they  are  found,  they  arc 
knocked  on  the  head  with  large  clubs.  This  is  a  cru- 
elty abfolutely  neceffary  ;  for  there  is  no  vehicle  that  will 
convey  the  infection  with  more  certainty  or  rapidity  than 
the  hair  of  cats.  Rats  and  mice  multiply  in  confe- 
quence  of  their  deftru&ion  ;  but  there  is  no  inftance  of 
their  ever  having  propagated  the  plague.  This  difeafe, 
when  it  attacks  men,  (pares  quadrupeds  and  birds.  The 
furs  of  the  one,  and  the  feathers  of  the  other,  however,  at- 
tract and  communicate  the  infection.  People  ought 
particularly  to  keep  from  goats  and  fheep  ;  from  horfes 
and  oxen  little  is  to  be  apprehended. 

All  thefe  precautions  were  fometimes  ineffectual. 
The  French  at  Acre,  who  there,  as  well  as  throughout 
Syria,  are  collected  into  one  quarter,  ufed  every  precau- 
tion that  could  be  thought  of,  yet,  on  the  3Oth  of  March, 
1760,  five  of  them  were  infedted.  They  belonged  to 
the  hofpital  of  the  Holy  Land,  and  the  monks  were  in- 
ftantly  ordered  to  (hut  themfelves  up.  They  did  fo  -9 
and  eight  of  them  died,  one  only  efcaping. 

Mr.  Howard  likewife  gives  particular  accounts  of  the 
precautions  ufed  in  feveral  different  countries  through 
which  he  travelled.  In  Malta  two  kinds  of  quarantine 
are  performed  ;  one  for  fhips  with  clean  bills,  the  other 
for  thofe  with  foul.  The  former  lafts  18  days.*  The 
crews  and  patTengers  are  allowed  to  buy  provifions,  and 
converfe  by  means  of  enclofures  with  (lone  pods  and 
palifadoes.  A  letter  received  from  a  Turkifh  (hip  was 
taken  by  a  pair  of  iron  tongs,  dipped  in  vinegar,  put  into 
a  cafe,  and  laid  for  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour  on  a  wire 
grate  under  which  ftraw  and  perfumes  had  been  burnt ; 
after  which  the  letter  was  taken  out  and  opened  by  one 
of  the  directors,  In  this  ifland  (hips  with  foul  bills  muft 
perform  quarantine  eighty  days ;  but,  at  the  end  of 
forty,  may  change  their  ftation.  The  different  kinds  of 
goods  are  feparated  and  placed  in  proper  order  under 

cover. 

*  At  Aleppo  20.     (Ruffe!.} 


A    TREATISE    OM 

cover.  The  cottons  are  taken  out  of  the  bags  contain- 
ing them,  and  placed  on  rows  of  piles  on  boards,  laid  on 
ftone  pillars  about  1 8  inches  from  the  floors;  and,  in 
repacking  them  they  are  flung  over  a  man  who  gets  in- 
to the  bags,  and  treads  down  the  cotton ;  the  confe- 
quence  muft  be  the  expofing  him  to  great  danger,  iliould 
any  infe&ion  remain. 

Mr.  Howard  took  a  voyage  to  Venice  in  a  fhip  with 
a  foul  bill,  on  purpofe  to  know  every  thing  relative  to 
the  performance  of  quarantine.  "  A  meflenger  (fays 
'  he)  came  in  a  gondola  to  conduft  me  to  the  new 
"  lazaretto.  I  was  placed,  with  my  baggage,  in  a  boat 
"  faftened  by  a  cord  ten  feet  long  to  another  boat  in 
"  which  were  fix  rowers.  When  I  came  near  the  land- 
"  ing  place  the  cord  was  loofed,  and  my  boat  was  pufh- 
"  ed  with  a  pole  on  the  fhore,  where  I  was  met  by  the 
"  perfon  appointed  to  be  my  guard.  Soon  after  un- 
"  loading  the  boat,  the  fub-prior  came  and  fliowed  me 
"  my  lodging ;  a  very  dirty  room,  full  of  vermin,  and 
c:  without  table,  chair  or  bed.  That  day  and  the  next 
"  morning  I  employed  a  perfon  to  wa(h  my  room  ;  but 
^c  this  did  not  remove  the  offenfivenefs  of  it,  or  prevent 
"  that  conftant  head-ach  which  I  had  been  ufed  to  feel 
"  in  vifiting  other  lazarettos  and  fome  of  the  hofpitals 
"  in  Turky.  My  guard  fent  a  report  of  my  health  to 
**  the  office,  and,  on  the  reprefentation  of  our  conful,  I 
"  was  removed  to  the  old  lazaretto.  Having  brought 
"  a  letter  to  the  prior  from  the  Venetian  ambaflador  at 
"  Constantinople,  I  hoped  now  to  have  had  a  com- 
;e  fortable  lodging.  But  I  was  not  fo  happy.  The 
"  apartment,  confifting  of  an  upper  and  lower  room,  was 
"  no  lefsdifagreeable  and  ofFen five  than  the  former.  I 
et  preferred  lying  in  the  lower  room,  on  a  brick  floor, 
"  where  I  was  almoft  furrounded  by  water.  After  fix 
"  days,  however,  the  prior  removed  me  to  an  apartment 
"  in  fome  refpedb  better,  and  confifting  of  four  rooms. 
"  Here  I  had  a  pleafant  view  ;  but  the  rooms  were 
"  without  furniture,  very  dirty,  and  nolefs  offenfive  than 
"  thefick  wards  of  the  word  hofpital.  The  walls  of  my 
"  clumber,  not  having  been  cleaned  perhaps  for  half  a- 

"  century^ 


THE    PLAGUE,  313 

'*  Century,  were  faturated  with  infection.  I  got  them 
**  waflied  repeatedly  with  boiling  water,  to  remove  the 
*'  offenfive  fmell,  but  without  any  effect.  My  appetite 
*'  failed,  and  I  concluded  I  was  in  danger  of  the  flow 
"  hofpital  fever.  I  propofed  whitewafhing  my  room  with, 
"  lime  flaked  in  boiling  water,  but  was  oppofed  by 
"  ftrong  prejudices.  I  got  this,  however,  done  one 
**  morning  through  the  affiftance  of  the  Britifh  conful, 
*'  who  fupplied  me  with  a  quarter  of  a  bufhel  of  frefh 
"  lime  for  that  purpofe.  The  confequence  was,  that 
n  my  room  was  immediately  rendered  fo  fweet  and  frefh, 
"  that  I  was  able  to  drink  tea  in  it  in  the  afternoon,  and 
'*  to  lie  in  it  the  following  night.  On  the  next  day  the 
"  walls  were  dry,  as  well  as  fweet j  and  in  a  few  days  I 
**  recovered  my  appetite.  This  room  was  lime-whited  in 
"  November,  and  in  a  very  rainy  feafon.  In  the  fol- 
"  lowing  March,  in  complaining  to  the  under  fheriifs  in 
"  Newgate  of  their  inattention  to  the  elaufe  which  or- 
"  ders  this  in  the  ac>  of  parliament  for  fecuring  the 
•'  health  of  prifoners,  their  excufe  was,  that  they  were 
"  afraid  of  dampnefs/' 

An  health-office  was  eftablifhed  at  Venice  in  1448, 
in  the  midft  of  a  very  deftructive  peftilence.  The  old 
and  new  lazarettos  are  both  built  on  little  iflands,  fur- 
rounded  not  only  by  canals,  but  high  walls.  They 
have  only  a  ground  floor,  and  one  over  it,  and  are  di- 
vided and  fubdivided  into  a  great  number  of  apart- 
ments, each  having  an  open  court  in  front,  with  plats  of 
grafs,  which  is  not  fuffcred  to  grow  too  high  $  nor  are 
any  trees  fuffered  to  grow  within  this  diftrict,  or  a  good 
way  from  it.  The  internal  government  is  managed  by 
a  prior,  who  muft  not  be  related  to  the  magiftracy  nor 
any  of  its  minifters.  He  muft  have  no  intereft  nor  con- 
cern in  (hipping  nor  in  trade.  He  muft  fee  all  the 
gates  and  doors'of  the  apartments  locked  every  evening 
by  funfet ;  he  takes  the  keys  into  his  pofTeffion,  and 
fufprs  them  not  to  be  opened  before  funrife  ;  and,  in 
cafe  of  any  fufpicion  of  infection,  the  gates  muft  be  kept 
conftantly  locked,  and  opened  only  for  necefTary  occur- 
rences in  prefence  of  the  prior.  He  muft  not  fuffer 

S  s  dogs. 


314  A    TREATISE    ON 

dogs,  cats,  &c.  to  lodge  in  the  lazaretto.  He  muft 
neither  buy  nor  fell,  nor  fufTer  others  to  do  fo,  within  the 
lazaretto.  ,  No  filling  boats  or  other  frnall  craft  to  come 
within  a  certain  diftance,  or  keep  communication  with 
thofe  performing  quarantine.  Provifions  are  received 
by  poles  feven  or  eight  feet  long,  and  the  money  dipped 
in  vinegar  and  fait  water  before  it  is  received.  The  prior 
and  his  fubftitute  muft  carefully  avoid  touching  either 
goods  or  paifengers  in  quarantine,  and  for  this  purpofe 
they  keep  a  cane  to  make  thofe  who  approach  them 
keep  their  proper  diftance  -,  but  if  by  an  unfortunate  ac- 
cident they  fhould  be  contaminated,  they  muft  perform 
quarantine.  Any  perfon  malicioufly  touching  them  is 
liable  to  punifhment. 

Ships  are  ftrictly  forbid  to  ufe  any  ropes  but  fuch  as 
are  tarred.  Wool,  filk,  cotton-wool,  woollen  and  linen 
clothes,  and  furs  especially,  are  accounted  the  moft  dan- 
gerous goods.  Animals  with  long  hair  are  fubjeft  to  full 
quarantine  ;  but  fhort  haired  ones  purged  by  fwimming 
afhore  ;  feathered  animals,  by  fprinkling  with  vinegar 
till  wet. 

The  celebrated  Dr.  Mead,  though  an  enemy  to  the 
cruel  mode  of  abandoning  the  iick,  or  treating  them 
with  any  kind  of  harflirieis,  was  perfectly  ienfible  of  the 
neceffity  of  ufing  every  precaution  for  preventing  pefti- 
lential  contagion  from  being  imported.  In  his  opinion 
it  is  not  fufficient  that  fliips  fhould  perform  quarantine, 
*'  the  only  ufe 'of  this  being  to  obferve  whether  any  die 
"  among  them.  For  infection  may  be  preferved  fo  long 
"  in  clothes  among  which  it  is  once  lodged,  that  as 
"  much,  nay,  more  of  it,  if  ficknefs  continues  in  thefhip, 
**  may  be  brought  on  fhore  than  at  the  beginning  of  the 
"  forty  days,  unlefs  a  new  quarantine  be  begun  every 
*{  time  any  perfons  dies  ;  which  might  not  end  but  with 
"  the  definition  of  the  whole  {hip's  crew."  He  is  there- 
fore of  opinion  that  lazarettos  ought  to  be  eftabiiihed  on 
frnall  iflands  near  the  fea-coaft  ;  and  in  this  Mr.  How- 
ard agrees  with  him.  The  latter  recommends  the  laza- 
retto at- Leghorn  as  the  beft  in  Europe.  Dr.  Mead  alfo 
very  much  infifts  on  the  utility  of  deftroying  the  clothes 

of 


THE   PLAGUE.  315 

of  the  fick,  becaufe,  fays  he,  they  harbour  the  very  ef- 
:  fence  of  the  contagion.     He  quotes  in  favour  of  this  opi- 
nion what  Boccaciofays  he  faw&t  Florence  in  1348  ; 
viz.  that  two  hogs,  finding  in  the  ftreets  the  rags  which 
had  been  thrown  out  from  off  a  poor  man  dead    of  the 
difeafe,  after  fnuffling  upon  them,  and  tearing  them  with 
their  teeth,  fell  into  convulfions,  and  died  in  two  hours. 
This  is  one  of  the  things  which  Dr.  Mofeley  looks  upon 
to  be  incredible.       It    is  indeed  very  marvellous,   and 
ieems  to  be  contradicted  by  M.  Deidier's  account  of  the 
dog  at  Marfeilles  who  fwallowed  with  impunity  the  filthy 
pus  and  peftilential  matter  adhering  to  the  drefiings  of 
plague  fores  :  but,   when  a  perfon  of  credit  informs  us 
that  he/aw  any  thing,  we  fcar.ce  know  how  to  contradict 
him.     The  evidence  of  peftilential  contagion  adhering 
to  clothes,  does  not  depend  on  fuch   accounts.     That 
lately  quoted  from  Dr.  Caneftrinus  is  decifive  on  the  fub- 
ject  ;  and  he  informs  us   that  one  of  the  methods  ufed 
by  himfelf  to  ftop  the  plague  in  Zboina,,  above  mentioned, 
was,  the  burning  of  the  clothes  of  infected  perfons.     He 
fays  that  the  peftilential  contagion  refembles  that  of  the 
fmall-pox,  in  being  of  a  fixed  nature  ;  and  that  all  who 
ftudiouily  avoided  communication  with  the  fick,  or  with 
whatever  fomes  might  carry  the  contagion,  efcaped  it  al- 
together.    "  That  the  contagion  of  the  plague   (fays  he) 
"  may  lie  dormant  for  a  conliderable  time,  and  be  car- 
"  ried  to  a  great  diftance  by  the  medium  of  packages,  &c. 
"  and  again  revive  with  its  former  violence,  is  proved  by 
"  various  circumftances.     Chenot  relates,   in  his  treatife 
"  on  the  plague  which  raged  in  Tranfylvania,  that  the 
<c  infection  was  revived  a  whole  year  after  it  had  difap- 
"  peared  ;  and  other  fimilar  inftances  are  adduced."     If 
this  revival  happened  from  infefted  clothes  or  foft  goods, 
it  Ihows  them  to  be  dangerous  in  the  extreme ;   but  of 
this  we  have  not  any  direct  proof,  neither  indeed  is  fuch  a 
belief  quite  confident  with  what  takes  place  in  all  plagues, 
viz.  that  the  clothes  of  the  infe&ed  are  worn  by  the  found, 
without  producing  any  reinfection.     In  the  great  plague 
at  London,  for  inftance,  where  an  hundred  thoufand  pro- 
bably perifhed,  and  a  much  greater  number  muft  have 

been 


A    TREATISE    ON 

been  infefted,  we  cannot  fuppofe  that  all  the  clothes  be- 
longing to  fuch  an  immenfe  multitude  were  burned,  or 
never  made  ufe  of  again.     It   is  of  neceffity   therefore 
that  we  fuppofe   the  peftilential   contagion  to  become 
effete,   and  to  lofe   its  virulence,  after  fome  time  -,  and 
this  feems  to  be  very  much  haflened  by  expofure  to  the 
atmofphere.     The  doing  of  this,  however,   by  obliging 
people  to  pqt  their  naked  arms  into  bales  of  fufpeded 
goods,  has  fuch  an  appearance  of  cruelty,  that  Dr.  Mead 
has  propofed  to  judge  of  the  prefence  or  abfence  of  infec- 
tion by  allowing  little  birds  to  fly  about  among  them  j 
*'  becaufe  (fays  he)  it  has  been'obierved,   in  times  of 
"  the    plague,  that   the  country   has  been   forfaken  by 
"  the  birds  ;  and  thofe  kept    in  houfes    have  many  of 
cc  them  died."     But,  though   he  fays   this   upon   very 
great  authority,  no  lefs  than  that  of  Diemerbroeck,  yet 
we  can  by  no  means  look  upon  the  fad:  to  be  abfolutely 
determined.     Dr.  RufTel  indeed  fays  that  the  defertioa 
of  the  birds  is  looked  upon  by  the  Turks  to  be  the  ^8 
of  an  approaching   plague;  but    this  failed   in    1760. 
Thucydides  fays  that  birds  of  prey  deferted  the  territory 
of  Athens  during  the  great  plague  in  his  time;  and  he 
fuppofes  them  to  have  been  poifoned  by  feeding  upon 
the  bodies  of  fuch    as  died  of  the  difeafe.     It  is  poffible 
that  fuch  food  might  be  difagreeable  to  them,   but  no 
proof  is  brought  of  any  of  them  having  been  actually, 
poifoned  by  it.     As  for  birds  kept  in  houfes,  it  is  poffible 
that  in  a  time  of  general- calamity  they  might  have  been 
neglected,  and  died  for  want  of  proper  food,  &c.     Dr. 
Mead  alfo  quotes  an  inftance  which  cannot  be  credited  in 
a  confiftency  with  undoubted  teftimonies  that  peftilential 
contagion  does  not  extend  but  for  a  very  little  way. 
Upon  opening  an  infected  bale  of  wool  in  the  field  near 
Cairo,  cc  two  Turks  employed  in  the  work  were  immedi- 
ately   killed,    and  fome  birds  which   happened    to  fly 
over  the   place  dropped  down  dead.''     Such   accounts 
have  arifen  from  a  fuppofition"  that  the  whole  mafs  of 
atmofphere  was  violently  infected  ;  but  this  would  be  to- 
tally inconfiftent  with  the  life  of  any    human   creature, 
and  we  may  well  put  down  this,  as  that^f,  peftilential  in- 
fection 


THE    PLAGUE.  317 

fe&ion  arifing  from  cities  like  a  cloud,  as  merely  chime* 
rical.*  It  is  too  well  known  that  peftilential  contagion, 
inftead  of  foaring  in  the  air,  keeps  very  near  the  ground. 
We  now  come  to  the  fecond  mode  of  prevention,  viz. 
removing  thefe  local  caufes  which,  in  the  opinion  of 
fome,  may  produce  a  plague  in  any  country,  and,  in  that 
of  others,  may  increafe  or  fet  in  a&ion  the  contagion 
previoufly  exifting.  Thefe  caufes  have  been  enumerated 
by  the  late  Dr.  Smith,-}*  in  a  D  ffcrtation  on  the  pefti- 
lential Difeafes  which  at  different  times  appeared  in  the 
Athenian,  Carthaginian  and  Roman  armies,  in  the  neigh^ 
bourhood  of  Syracufe.  They  are,  i.  The  climate  and 
feafon.  ^.  The  fituation  of  the  armies;  and,  3.  Their 
condition.  The  climate  of  the  iiland  of  Sicily  in  gene- 
ral he  obferves  is  extremely  pleafant  at  fome  feafons  of 
the  year ;  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Syracufe  particularly 
ftorms  are  fo  infrequent  during  the  former  part  of  the 
year,  that  the  fun  is  never  obfcured  for  a  whole  day, 
f  ven  in  the  month  of  January,  however,  the  weather  is 
warm,  and  as  the  feafon  advances  the  heat  becomes  in* 
fupportable.  In  autumn  it  is  rendered  fornewhat  unplea- 
fant  and  unhealthy  by  the  frequent  rains  and  chillnefs  of 
the  evenings.  But,  in  particular  places, during  the  hot- 
ted feafon,  nothing  can  exceed  its  unhealthinefs.  Ac* 
cording  to  Barichten,  "  the  Icaft  flagnant  water  is  fuffi- 
C4  cient,  in  the  heats  of  fummer,  to  poifon  the  atmo- 
"  fphere  :  its  effects  on  the  countenances  of  the  poor 
"  people  who  live  in  its  vicinity  are  evident  ;  and  3, 
"  ftranger  who  travels  through  the  ifland  in  this  feafon 
"  ought  to  avoid  ever  paffing  a  night  near  them."  De 
Non  fays,  that  "  as  foon  as  the  fun  enters  the  Lion,  this 
"  country  becomes  the  houfe  of  death  :  fevers  of  the 

"  jnoft 

*  About  the  mouth  of  the  river  Gambia  in  Africa,  after  the  annual  inunda- 
tion of  the  river,  the  putrefadion  of  the  mudt  mixed  with  animai  and  vegetable 
Jubftances,  becomes  fo  great,  that  the  birds  maHifeft  their  difguft  by  foaring  to 
an  immenfe  height  in  the  air.  This  is  a  natural  confequence  of  the  levity  of 
putrefa6live  vapours  compared  with  the  common  atmofphere  As  thefe  vapours, 
however,  are  compofed  of  feveral  kinds  of  gales,  it  is  pofTible  that  fome  may 
deicend,  while  others  afcend  ;  and  thus  the  contagious  part,  tending  to  the 
earth,  may  violently  affed  the  people  who  are  confined  among  it,  while  the 
birds  eicape  ;  b,ut  there  is  ftill  wanting  fome  pofitive  evidence  that  ever  th$ 
true  plague  did  arifefrom  this  caufe. 

•f  Med.  Repofitory»  vol.  ii,  p,  367, 


3i8  A    TREATISE   ON 

"  mod:  malignant  kind  feize  on  the  imprudent  or  un- 
"  fortunate  wretch  that  fpends  a  night  near  them  (ponds 
u  and  marfhes)  and  few  efcape  with  life  when  attacked 
"  by  fo  virulent  a  diforder." 

To  the  poifonous  effluvia  of  thefe  marfhes  the  Doclor 
attributes,  in  an  efpecial  manner,  the  plagues  which  took 
place  in  the  armies.  In  the  fecond  year  of  the  Pclo- 
ponnefian  war,  the  Athenian  army  was  encamped,  as  we 
.are  told  by  Thucydides,  "  upon  marfhy  and  unvvhole-* 
fome  ground .j"  and  that  fuch  kind  of  encampments  will 
produce  dtfeafes  in  an  army  is  well  known.  In  the  time 
of  Dionyfius,  when  the  Carthaginian  army  under  ImilcQ 
fuffered  fo  dreadfully,  or  rather  was  totally  deftroyed, 
his  camp  was  fituated  on  an  eminence  between  two 
moraffes,  the  heat  at  that  time  being  exceflive.  Han- 
nibal, the  predecefTor  of  Imilco,  had  alfo  loft  great  part 
of  his  army  by  a  plague,  though  he  had  been  encamped 
in  a  healthy  fituation  ;  but,  in  order  to  raife  a  wall 
which  fhould  overlook  the  city,  he  had  taken  the  ma- 
terials of  the  tombs  found  in  the  common  burial  place, 
the  city  at  that  time  containing  two  hundred  thoufand 
inhabitants.  "  From  the  uncovering  and  difturbing  of 
"  fo  many  dead  bodies  (fays  our  author)  arofe  a  terrible 
€<  peftilence,  which  carried  off  immenfe  numbers  of  the 
**  Carthaginians,  and  amongft  the  reft  the  generalhim- 
*'  felf."  To  the  unhealthy  fituation  of  the  armies  alfo 
the  Do&or  afcribes  the  plague  which  took  place  in  the 
Roman  and  Carthaginian  camps  in  the  time  of  the  fe- 
cond punic  war ;  and  the  Carthaginians  fuffered  moft,  by 
reafon  of  their  being  nearer  to  the  marfhes.  The  ftate 
of  mind,  the  cleanlinefs  of  the  perfon,  Sec.  alfo  muft  be 
taken  into  account ;  and  our  author  ihows  that  neither 
of  tbefe  could  be  fuppofed  favourable  to  the  Car-* 
thaginians. 

That  perfonal  cleanlinefs,  and  breathing  pure  air, 
fhould  contribute  to  the  health  of  individuals,  or  to  any 
number  of  them  collected  into  camps  or  cities,  feems  to 
be  agreeable  to  reafon  and  common  fenfe  ;  neverthelefs 
we  find  that  this  has  been  denied,  and  even  Dr.  Canef- 
trinus  fays  that  "  in  the  plague  of  Lyons  and  Marfeilles 

"it 


THE   PLAGUE.  319 

"  it  was  obferved,  that  the  moft  populous  parts  of  thefe 
**  cities,  where  the  Jlreets  were  narrow  and filthy ',  fuifered 
*'  /efs  from  the  difeaie  than  thofe  which  were  more  airy 
c*  and  clean.  At  the  time  of  the  plague  in  London  in 
"  the  time  of  Charles  II,  the  phyficians  advifed  that  all 
"  the  privies  ihould  be  opened  and  expofed  y  the  fetid 
"  odour  from  which  having  pervaded  the  city,  the  plague 
*£  was  flopped  !  Is  it  from  this  caufe  (the  author  afks) 
c<  that  the  plague  has  feldomer  vifited  Spain,  the  towns 
"  of  which  are  intolerably  ofTenfive  from  their  want  of 
"  cleanlinefs  ?"* 

This  certainly  feems  a  very  ftrange  doctrine,  never- 
thelefs  the  fact  that  Spain  is  but  little  fubjeft  to  the 
plague  feems  undeniable,  and  as  it  is  no  lefs  certain  that 
the  towns  are  exceflively  filthy,  it  would  feem  that 
cleanlinefs  is  not  effectual  in  preventing  it.  But,  how- 
ever agreeable  the  fmell  of  human  excrements  may  be  to 
the  Spaniards,  or  to  the  Englim  phyficians  in  former 
times,  it  feems  to  be  lefs  fo  at  prefent.  "  I  am  perfuaded 
"  (fays  Dr.  Ferriar)  that  mifchief  frequently  arifes  from. 
"  a  practice  common  in  narrow  back  ftreets  of  leaving 
"  the  vaults  of  privies  open.  I  have  often  obferved 
**'  that  fevers  prevail  moft  in  houfes  expofed  to  the  efflu* 
"  via  of  dunghills  in  fuch  fituations."  In  Spain  the 
opinion  feems  to  have  been  but  lately  eradicated ;  for 
fome  years  ago,  an  order  having  been  iifued  by  govern- 
ment that  the  ftreets  of  Madrid  fhould  be  kept  fomewhat 
cleaner,  the  people  were  fo  much  exafperated  at  being 
threatened  with  the  lofs  of  the  favoury  odour,  that  a  re- 
bellion had  almoftenfued,  and  the  phyficians  declared  the 
frnell  of  human  excrements  to  be  the  moft  vvholeforne 
thing  in  the  world. •}• 

That 

*  Medical  Review,  vol,  iil,  p.  263. 

t  Ir  feems,  however,  of  late,  that  at  ieaft  the  city  of  Madrid  is  kept  clean. 
Swinburne  fays,  f peaking  of  the  palace  at  Madrid,  ««  To  the  weft  it  has  the 
«<  town,  ihe  three  principal  ilreets  of  which  terminate  in  the  Pravo.  Thefe 
«<  are  three  noble  openings,  excellently  paved,  and  clean  even  to  a  nicety  f 
"  indeed  fo  are  moft  of  the  ftreets  of  Madrid  fince  the  edi6l  for  paving  and 
««  cleaning  them.*  The  foreigners  that  refided  here  before  that  time,  fhuddet 
«»  at  the  very  recolleciion  of  its  former  filth.  Some  of  the  natives  regret  the 
«•*  old  itink&  and  naftincfs  ;  as  they  pretend  that  the  air  of  Madrid  is  fo  fub- 

«  til 
*  Dillon  has  a  like  rsmark  in  his  «« Travels  through  Spain." 


A    TREATISE    ON 

That  the  confinement  of  human  effluvia,  along  with; 
heat  and  want  of  water,  will  produce  a  malignant  fever^ 
is  certain  from  the  example  of  the  unfortunate  people 
confined  in  the  Black  Hole  at  Calcutta.  In  this  cafe 
the  diftemper  feems  to  juftify  the  opinion  that  plague 
may  be  artificially  produced,  perhaps  mere  than  any 
other  upon  record  5  for  Dr.  Ferriar  informs  us  that  it 
was  attended  with  eruptions  refembling  thofe  of  the  true 
plague.  In  this  cafe,  however,  the  confinement  was 
beyond  example  in  any  fituation  which  can  be  fuppofed 
incident  to  a  city  or  camp.  There  is  no  country  in  the 
ivorld  where  the  inhabitants  arc  equally  numerous  with 
thofe  of  the  empire  of  China,  its  population  at  prefent 
being  eftimated  by  Sir  George  Staunton  at  three  hundred 
and  thirty -three  millions ,  a  number  equal  to  one  third  of 
the  fuppofed  inhabitants  of  the  whole  globe  ;  of  confe- 
quence  the  cities  muft  be  immenfely  crowded  with  in- 
habitants ;  yet  it  remains  free  from  plagues.  Human 
effluvia  therefore,  in  the  moft  populous  ftate  in  which 
mankind  can  exift  in  fociety,  are  not  able  to  taint  the 
atmofphere  of  a  country  or  city.  The  following  is  Dr. 
Clark's  account  of  that  celebrated  empire:  "The 
"  whole  empire  of  China  is  reprefented  to  be  extremely 
<c  delightful ;  the  foil  rich,  the  air  pure,  and  the  indui- 
"  try  of  the  inhabitants  aftoniming.  As  it  produces 
*'  every  luxury  and  necefTary  of  life,  it  is  jufrjy  efteerned 
<f*  one  of  the  moft  fertile  countries  in  the  world.  As  the 
"•  Chinefe  prohibit  emigration,  and  feldom  or  never  en- 
"  £a§e  *n  war>  t^e^T  country  is  extremely  populous.- 
6C  Every  river  maintains  a  proportion  of  inhabitants  ade- 
'*  quate  to  the  land,  whofe  families  live  continually  in* 
cc  boats,  without  having  any  other  place  of  refidence, 
kC  Their  number  of  people  lays  them  under  the  necef- 

"  fity 

•  til  as  to  require  a  proper  mixture  of  grofler  effluviat  to  prevent  its  pernicious 
1  etfefts  upon  theconftitunon.     The  extremes  of  cold  and  heat  are.  aftonifhing 
'  in  this  place,  and  the  winds  fo  fearching,  that  all  the  Spaniards  wear  lea-- 

*  them  under  waiftcoats,   to   preferve  their  chefts  ;  for  they  pervade  every 
»  other  kind  of  clothing  " 

The  former  filthineis  of  Madrid,  together  with  its  being  fiturated  in  a  cli- 
mate expoied  to  the  viciffitudes  of  extreme  heat  and  cold,  and  its  exemption 
from  the  plague  under  thofe  circumftances,  certainly  prefcnts  a  moft  folid  ob- 
jeftion  to  the  theory  of  the  domeftic  origin  of  plague.  To  the  fame  purpofr 
lee  below  the  remarks  on  the  climate  of  China, 


THE    PLAGUE.  321 

11  flty  of  carrying  induftry  to  the  greateft  height ;  for 
*'  otherwife  their  country*  fertile  as  it  naturally  is,  would 
"  be  infufficient  to  maintain  the  inhabifants.  Every 
"  inch  of  land  is  cultivated  ;  no  forefts  nor  woods,  nor 
**  even  a  fingle  tree,  is  fuffered  to  obftruct  the  labours 
"  of  the  hufbandman.  Canals  are  cut  every  ,where  to 
'•  water  the  fields,  and  marfhes  are  manured  for  the 
"  cultivation  of  rice.  By  thefe  means  health  and  plenty 
"  are>  in  a  great  meafure,  the  portion  of  its  inhabitants 
*c  through  all  the  feafons  of  the  year.  The  only  terrible 
"  and  fatal  difeafes  to  which  they  feem  to  be  fubjed; 
"  are  the  fmall-pox  and  leprofy. 

But,  though  our  author  determines  in  general  that 
the  air  of  China  is  pure,  this  cannot  apply  to  every  part 
of  it  without  exception.  On  the  contrary  he  describes 
in  the  following  manner  Wampoa,  a  village  about  four- 
teen or  fixteen  miles  below  the  city  of  Canton,  on  Can- 
ton river :  "  It  is  the  ufual  ftation  of  all  European 
"  fhips  in  this  river.  On  one  fide  the  land  is  low^ 
1£  marfhy,  and  covered  with  water,  forming  fwamps  fit 
ri  only  for  the  cultivation  of  rice.  The  extent  of  thefe 
:c  fwamps  is  confiderable ;  the  tide  rifes  high,  and  over- 
te  flows  great  part  of  them  ;  but  the  interfedion  of  the 
"  rivers  renders  them  more  pure  than  they  would  other- 
*'  wife  be,  and  confequently  the  air  is  much  healthier 
"  than  one  could  expect  from  the  unfavourable  afpeft." 

In  like  manner  Canton  city  he  fays   "  is  built  on  a 

cc  very  extenlive  plain,  and  is  large  and  populous.    Here 

"  the  government  allow  the  Englifh,  Dutch^    French^ 

4  Danes  and   Swedes  feparate  factories  on  the  banks 

:<  of  the  river.     The  city,  though  paved,  is  very  wet  in 

c  rainy  weather ;    and  the  water   makes  its  way  under 

'*  the  fa-ftories  ol  the  different  nations  every  tide.     The 

'  houfes  are  built  with  bricks;    the  apartments  are  in 

ic  general   final  1,  and  not  very   lofty,  and  the  ground 

'  ftories  are  very  damp.     When  the  bufmefs  of  the  fea- 

p<  fon  is  over,  the   fupercargoes  remove   to  Macao,   a 

'  Portuguefe  iiland,  fubjecl:  to  the  Chinefe  government,, 

;  The  city  of  Macao  is  fituated  on  a  rifing  ground  ; 

"  the  whole  ifland  is  dry,  rocky  and  barren ;  it  is,  how- 

T  t  «  ever, 


322,  A    TREATISE    ON 

"  ever,  plentifully  fupplied  with  provifions  by  the  Chi- 
"  nefe  ;  and,  though  the  air  is  very  fultry,  yet  it  is  to- 
"  lerably  healthy." 

From  the  preceding  account  it  is  plain,  that  the 
caufes  which  operate  in  the  production  of  plagues  and 
epidemic  difeafes  in  other  countries,  though  they  exift 
in  China,  do  not  acV  there  with  equal  efficacy.  At 
Wampoa  the  marfhes  in  the  neighbourhood  muft,  in  the 
hot  feafon,  emit  noxious  effluvia  as  well  as  any  where 
elfe,  and  there  can  be  no  certainty  that  the  overflowing 
of  the  tide  is  fufficient  to  put  a  flop  to  their  malignant 
influence.  At  Canton  the  water  penetrates  below  the 
floors  of  the  houfes,  and  we  have  feen  from  Dr  Fordycc* 
that  in  other  countries  the  fprinkling  of  a  floor  with  clean 
water,  and  the  encampment  of  an  army  upon  ground 
where  water  was  found  at  a  fmall  depth  below  the  fur- 
face,  were  fufficient  to  produce  fevers  -,  yet  here  it  is  not 
fo.  In  this  city  alfo  the  inhabitants  are  numerous,  and 
the  apartments  fmall  j  fo  that  neither  the  perfpiration  of 
multitudes,  nor  the  moid  exhalations  from  water  ftag- 
nating  in  the  ftreets,  nay,  under  the  houfes  themfelves, 
are  able  to  produce  the  difeaies  in  queftion.  Again,  at 
Macao  the  fultry  heat  of  the  air  has  as  little  effect  as  the 
reft. 

Laftly,  in  Pekin,  the  capital,  the  population  and  the 
crowd  areimmenfe.  According  to  Sir  George  Staunton^f- 
the  city  is  about  one  third  larger  than  London  ;  but,  as 
lie  fuppofesj  it  to  contain  three  millions  of  inhabitants, 
the  population  muft  be  twice  and  a  third-part  as  great  as 
that  of  London  in  proportion  to  its  bulk.  "  The  low 
4t  houfes  of  Pekin  (fays  he)  feem  fcarcely  fufficient  for  fo 
u  vaft  a  population  j  but  very  little  room  is  occupied  by 
"  a  Chinefe  family,  at  leaft  by  the  middling  and  lower 
"  clafies  of  life.  In  their  houfes  there  are  no  fuperfluous 
"  apartments.  A  Chinefe  dwelling  is  generally  fur- 
"  rounded  by  a  wall  fix  or  feven  feet  high.  Within 
46  this  enclofure,  a  whole  family  of  three  generations, 
*'  with  all  their  refpe&ive  wives  and  children,  will  fre- 

"  quently 

*  Sec  p.p.  J/TI  172.  t  Authentic  Account  of  an  Ernbafiy»  fee*  vol.  ii>  p.  34* 
$ib.p.  39* 


THE  PLAGUE.  323 

"  quently  be  found.  One  fmall  room  is  made  to  ferve 
"  for  the  individuals  of  each  branch  of  the  family,  fleep- 
"  ing  in  different  beds,  divided  only  by  mats  hanging 
"  from  the  ceiling.  One  common  room  is  ufed  for 


eating.' 


Where  difeafes  are  prevalent,  circumftances  of  the 
kind  juft  mentioned  would  certainly  be  urged  as  evident 
canjes  of  them  ;  but  in  China  we  fee  that  fcmethittg  dif- 
arms  fuch  caufes  of  their  power.  People,  however,  fel-  " 
dom  want  a  falvo  for  any  thing.  u  The  crowds  of 
"  people,  at  Pekin  (fays  our  author)  do  not  prevent  it 
"  from  being  healthy.  The  Chinefe  indeed  live  much 
"  in  the  open  air,  increafing  or  diminifhing  the  quan- 
"  tity  of  their  apparel  according  to  the  weather.  The 
"  atmofphere  is  dry,  and  does  not  engender  putrid  dif- 
"  eafes ;  and  excefles  productive  of  them  are  feldom 
£i  committed."  But,  if  the  dry  air  at  Pekin  contributes 
to  the  health  of  the  people,  why  does  not  the  moid  air 
of  Canton  produce  difeafes  ?  Befides,  in  this  empire 
there  are  multitudes  of  people  who  live  entirely  upon 
the  water,  in  a  kind  of  houfes  conftru&ed  upon  junks,  - 
employed  in  carrying  grain  from  place  to  place,  or  for 
other  purpofes.*  Sir  George  Staunton  computes  the 
number  of  inhabitants  on  a  branch  of  a  fingle  river 
to  be  no  lefs  than  an  hundred  thoufand.  What  then 
muft  they  be  throughout  the  whole  empire  !  Yet  thefe 
people,  though  continually  expofed  to  moifture,  as  well 
as  to  an  almofl  inconceivably  crowded  (ituation,  are  yet 
no  more  fubject  to  epidemics  than  others.  Our  author 
does  not  fpecify  the  excejjes  which  produce  diforders. 
Intemperance  in  drinking  no  doubt  is  one  of  them  ;  but 
Dr.  Patrick  Ruffel  exprefsly  fays,  that  he  never  faw  an 
iaftance  of  the  plague  being  brought  on  by  intem- 
perance. 

Laftly,  with  regard  to  living  in  the  open  air,  Mr. 
M'Lean  has  afcribed  to  the  viciffitudes  of  this  ele-» 
ment  the  principal  if  not  the  only  caufe  of  epidemics. 
;i  A  fact  worthy  of  notice  (fays  he)  is,  that  aged  perfons 
"  and  children  are  both  feldomer  and  lefs  feverely  at- 

"  tacked 

*  Authentic  Account*  #c.  vol.  i>  j>.  230. 


324  A    TREATISE    ON 

"  tacked  by  epidemics  and  peftilential  diforders  than 
"  the  young  and  middle  aged,  and  women  feldomer  and 
"  lefs  feverely  than  men.  Now,  if  contagion  was  the 
"  fource  of  thefe  difeafes,  the  cafe  would  be  exactly  re- 
*c  verfed.  Old  people,  women  and  children,  being  more 
"  in  the  way  of  contagion,  would  be  more  frequently 
"  and  more  feverely  attacked.  But  the  young  and  mid- 
<c  die  aged,  being  more  expofed  to  the  <vic(ffitudes  of  the 
"  atmofphere,  the  principal  fource  of  thofe  difeafes,  they 
"  are  confequently  more  feverely  attacked.  It  has  been 
"  a  puzzling  queflion  to  folve  why  old  people  and  chil- 
"  dren  are  iefs  expofed  to  plague,  &c.  but  the  folution 
"  will  be  no  longer  difficult  if  it  fhould  be  proved  that 
"  thefe  difeafes  are  always  produced  by  certain  ftates  or 
"  viciffitudes  of  the  atmofphere,  together  with  the  appli- 
^  cation  of  other  powers  co-operating  in  the  production 
"  of  indirect  debility."  In  the  country  we  fpeak  of, 
however,  this  folution  fails  in  a  manner  almoft  as  evident 
as  can  be  imagined.  "  The  removal  of  the  embaffy, 
"  (fays  Sir  George  Staunton)  was  a  difappointment  to 
<c  feveral  perfons  belonging  to  it,  who  had  made  arrange-. 
*c  meats  for  paffing  the  winter  at  Pekin.  Judging  of  its 
"  temperature  by  the  latitude  of  the  place,  a  few  minutes 
"  under  40°  north,  they  were  not  aware  of  the  violent 
"  effect  of  the  great  range  of  high  Tartarian  mountains, 
**  covered  perpetually  with  fnow,  upon  that  capital, 
*'  where  the  average  degree  of  the  thermometer  is  under 
"  twenty  in  the  night  during  the  winter  months,  and 
*c  even  in  the  day  time  is  confiderably  below  the  freezing 
"  point.  The  ufual  inhabitants  were  guarded  againft 
"  cold,  not  only  by  habit,  but  by  an  increafe  of  clothing 
"  in  proportion  to  its  intenfcnefs,  confiding  of  furs,  wool- 
*c  len  clothes  and  quilted  cottons.  They  are  not  accuf- 
"  tomed  to  the  prefence  of  fire.  They  have  no  chim- 
*•  neys,  except  to  kitchens  in  great  hotels.  Fires,  on 
"'which  Englifhmen  chiefly  depend  againft  fuffering  by 
"  the  fharpnefs  of  the  atmofphere,  could  not  well  anfwer 
-c  that  purpofe  in  houfes  which  are  fo  conllriicted  as  to 
?<  admit  the  external  air  almoft  on  every  fide.  Stoves 
<fi-  are^  however,  common  in  large  buildings.  Thefe 

u  ftoves 


THE   PLAGUE,  325 

'*  ftoves  are  fituated  frequently  under  the  platforms  on 
"  which  the  inhabitants  fit  in  the  day  time,  and  reft  at 
*'  night.  The  worft  weather  experienced  in  that  capi- 
"  tal  might  be  confidered  as  mild  by  the  Tartars,  com- 
*'  ing  from  a  climate  flill  more  rude  ;  but  other  foreign- 
"  ers  are  laid  to  feel  themfelves  lefs  comfortable  at  Pekin 
"  in  the  winter  than  in  the  fummer,  though  the  heat  is 
"  then  raifed  to  the  oppofite  extreme.  In  both  they 
"  feem  to  require  a  feafoning.  Several  individuals  of  the 
"  embajjy  fell  ill  during  their  flay  ;  and  all  did  not  recover. 
*'  The  human  frame  feems  calculated  for  the  hotteft 
*c  rather  than  the  coldeft  atmofphere,  and  to  exift  at 
**  the  equator  rather  than  the  pole." 

Here  we  are  involved  in  difficulties  much  greater  than 
before.  It  appears  that  even  the  fine  climate  of  China 
is  healthful  only  to  its  own  inhabitants.  They  can  bear 
the  vicijfitudes  of  the  air,  which  Europeans  cannot.  The 
prevention  of  plagues  or  mortal  difeafes  then  muft  con- 
(id  in  fome  mode  of  living  by  which  people  can  accom- 
modate themfelves  to  the  country  which  they  inhabit, 
and  without  which  every  other  precaution  will  be  inef- 
fectual. The  difeafes  with  which  the  attendants  of  the 
ambaffador  were  feized  could  not  be  owing  to  any  flo- 
venlinefs  or  dirtinefs  in  their  lodgings  or  food,  or  to 
want  of  apparel ;  nor  were  they  more  expofed  to  the 
inclemencies  of  the  air  than  others ;  only  they  were  in  a 
flrange  country,  where  that  inexplicable  constitution  of 
the  elements  acted  upon  them  in  a  manner  different 
from  what  it  did  on  the  natives,  and,  while  it  was 
friendly  to  the  latter,  proved  pernicious  to  the  former. 
But  there  was  a  time  when  even  China  was  as  unhealthy 
as  other  countries;  for  the  great  plague  in  1346  began 
in  the  northern  part  of  it.  We  have  feen,  in  a  former 
fcction,  that  this  was  preceded  by  the  moft  dreadful  and 
violent  wars  throughout  the  whole  Afiatic  continent. 
Since  the  ceiTation  of  thefe  violent  wars  the  Chinefe  have 
(laid  at  home,  and  applied  themfelves  to  the  arts  of  peace, 
particularly  to  agriculture,  which  they  have  carried,  we 
may  fay,  to  itsutmoil  perfection.  This  feems  therefore 
to  be  the  true  method  of  removing  all  thofe  local  caufes 

which 


326  A    TREATISE  ON 

which  produce  epidemics,  or  at  leaft  of  preventing  them 
from  doing  hurt ,  and,  without  attention  to  the  natural 
duties  and  occupations  of  man,  it  is  to  be  feared  that  all 
artificial  modes  of  prevention  will  be  found  not  only  pre- 
carious but  ineffectual. 

Dr.  Smith  in  the  differtation  above  mentioned  ob- 
ferves,  that  "  it  may  be  doubted  whether  any  moral 
"  caufe  would  be  fufficieat  to  protect,  for  a  long  period,, 
"  an  unaccuftomed  refident  in  a  marfhy  fituation  from 
"  the  ufual  confequences."  This  is  no  doubt  very  pro- 
bable ;  but,  from  the  example  of  Lord  Macartney's  at- 
tendants in  China,  it  appears  equally  probable  that  it 
snakes  little  difference  whether  the  country  be  marfhy 
or  not.  Dr.  Lind  has  many  excellent  obfervations  upon 
the  fubject  of  unhealthy  countries,  and  gives  particular 
directions  for  ftrangers  how  to  act,  when  obliged  to 
cxpofe  themfelves  to  the  inclemencies  of  the  weather; 
but  none  of  thefe  being  effectual  in  preventing  the  ac- 
cefs  of  the  true  peftilence,  we  muft  ftill  adhere  to  the 
old  Latin  adage  already  quoted,  p.  302.  Flight  feems 
to  be  the  moft  effectual  method.  To  avoid  migrations 
to  thofe  countries  where  it  ufually  rages,  and,  if  it 
were  poflible  to  perfuade  the  inhabitants  of  fuch  coun- 
tries, to  imitate  the  example  of  Chinefe  induflry,  in- 
Head  of  allowing  the  greater  part  of  the  territories  they 
poffefs  to  lie  wafte,  would  in  all  probability  gradually 
lefien  both  the  frequency  and  violence  of  this  terri- 
ble difeafe.  Migrations  of  large  bodies  of  people, 
cfpecially  for  the  purpofes  of  war,  are  greatly  to  be 
dreaded.  If  a  few  Englifhmen,  poffeffed  of  every  thing 
neceffary,  could  not  keep  their  health  at  Pekin,  what 
muft  have  been  the  probable  confequence  of  landing  an 
army  of  an  hundred  thoufand,  with  a  view  to  conqueft  ? 
Or  what  could  we  expect  if  the  Chinefe  were  to  "pour 
forth  by  millions"  into  other  countries  in  order  to  con- 
quer them  ?  Dr.  Lind  takes  notice  that  even  of  the  firft 
Portuguefe  adventurers  to  Africa,  fuch  as  efcaped  the 
firft  ftcknefs  continued  afterwards  to  enjoy  good  health* 
He  likewife  obferves  that  many  who  left  Britain,  after  be- 
ing feaforjed  to  the  countries  to  which  they  went,  chofe 

rather 


THE   PLAGUE,  327 

rather  to  remain  abroad  fox  life,  than  to  run  a  new  rifk 
by  going  back  to  their  own  country.  It  is  not  there- 
fore fo  much  the  greater  unhealthinefs  of  the  country  to 
which  we  go,  as  the  change,  which  is  to  be  dreaded.  If 
therefore  great  bodies  of  men  will  employ  themfelves  in 
conftant  rambling  from  one  country  to  another,  no 
wonder  that  difeafes  break  out  among  them,  unknown, 
either  in  the  countries  they  have  left,  or  thofe  to  which 
they  go. 

We  come  now  to  the  third  mode  of  prevention,  viz, 

that  of  destroying  the  infection  after  it  has  begun  to 

exift.      This  is  varied  according  to  the  nature  of  thofe 

things  which  we  fuppofe  to  be  infected.      The  general 

notion  of  infection  taking  place  in  the  atmofphere  has 

been  already  fpoken  of;    but  the  uncertainty  of  this 

hypothefis,  and  the  apparent  impoffibility  'of  altering  a 

conftitution  of  the  atmofphere,  muft   certainly    leave 

very  little  room  for  hope  in  this  cafe.     It  hath,  however, 

been  attempted    by    various    methods.      Hippocrates 

adopted  the  opinion  that  all  difeafes  were  produced  by 

the  air,  and  from  him  it  was  borrowed  by  Lucretius,  as 

we  are  informed  by  the  annotator  on  Creech's  Tranfla- 

tion  of  that  author.      "  In  his  book  de  Flatibus  (of 

<l  winds)  fays  the  annotator,   after  a  long  narration  of 

"  the  effects  that  the  air  produces,  he  at  length  falls  on 

"  the  fubject  of  difeafes,  all  of  which  he  affirms  to  be 

"  bred  and  generated  in  the  bodies  of  animals  by  means 

"  of  the  air.      Firft  (fays  he)  I  will  begin  with  the  moft 

"  common  fevorous  difeafe,  which  accompanies,   in  a 

"  manner,  all  difeafes  whatever.    For  there  are  two  forts 

"  of  fevers,  one  that  is  promifcuous,  and   common  to 

"  all,  and   is  called  the  plague ;    the  other,  by  reafon  of 

"  unhealthful  diet,  is  peculiar  only  to  fuch  as  ufe  that 

"  diet ;  but  of  both  thefe  kinds  of  fevers  the  air  is  the 

"  fole  author  and  caufe,  for  the  common  fever  or  plague 

<k  happens  alike  to  all,  bccaufe  they  all  breathe  the  fame 

"  air  :  and  it  is  certain  that  the  like  air,  being  alike  min- 

"  gled  in  like  bodies,  mud  beget  like  fevers."     In  confe- 

quence  of  his  theory,  this  great  phyficianadvifed  to  have 

recourfe  to  fire  as  a  purifier  of  air  in  times  of  peftilence. 

But 


3*8  A   TREATISE    ON" 

But  experience  doth  not  warrant  the  fuccefs  of  this  me- 
thod; neither  indeed  can  we  fuppofe  that  it  could  befuc- 
cefsful,  unlefs  people  were  able  to  kindle  fuch  fires  as 
would  abforb  the  whole  atmofphere  of  a  country.  This 
method  was  tried  in  London  without  the  leaft  fuccefs  j 
nay,  feemingly  with  bad  effect  ;  for,  the  very  night  the 
fires  were  lighted,  more  than  four  thoufand  people  died  $ 
and,  a  few  days  after,  an  end  was  put  to  the  experiment 
by  fuch  violent  rains  as  extinguifhed  all  the  fires  at  once/ 

The  burning  of  infected  clothes  has  already  been 
taken  notice  of  5  but  though  this  muft  certainly  prevent 
any  new  infection  from  arifing  from  thefe  clothes,  it  will 
not  prove  that  the  infection  may  not  evaporate  dur- 
iag  the  time  of  burning,  and,  being  volatilized  even  be- 
yond its  natural  pitch,  by  the  heat,  may  do  mifchief  at 
a  greater  diftance  than  could  have  happened  had  they 
been  let  alone.  The  inftance,  formerly  quoted  from 
Dr.  Huxham,  of  the  fmall-pox  being  diffeminated  by 
the  fmoke  of  burning  infected  clothes,  if  not  a  proof \  af- 
fords at  lead  a  ftrong  prefumption,  of  the  danger  of  fuch 
a  practice.  The  only  way  of  perfectly  enfuring  fafety 
in  fuch  a  cafe  would  be  to  burn  them  by  the  fea-fide, 
when  the  wind  blows  from  the  more,  Were  the  fmoke 
allowed  to  pafs  over  land,  and  great  piles  burnt  at  once, 
it  is  impoffible  to  fay  how  far  the  contagion  might  be 
carried.* 

Another  mode  of  purification  isbyexpofing  fufpected 
goods  to  heat,  to  the  vapour  of  vinegar,  &c.  fumigating 
with  gun-powder,  fulphur,  &c.  and  on  this  principle 
various  powders  of  fumigation  have  been  invented, 
fome  of  which  are  faid  to  have  been  very  fuccefsful  in 
Ruffia  ;  and  the  compofition  of  one  is  given  by  Dr. 
Alexander  Rufiei  in  his  Natural  Hiftory  of  Aleppo  ; 
but  all  thefe  are  undervalued  by  Dr.  Guthrie,-}*  who  calls 
the  practice  of  fumigation  or  fmoking,  an  "  inadequate 
and  ineffectual  ceremony."  Dr.  Mitchel,  alfo  difcom- 
mends  them,  faying  that  they  are  adviled  "  without  any 
"  proof  that  thefe  deftroy  peftilential  matter,  arid  while, 

"  at 

*  In  the  time  of  the  great  fire  at  London,  in  1666,  aftes  are  faid 
been  carried  to  iixteen  miles  diftance. 

f  Duncan's  Med.  Comment,  vol.  viiii  p.  $$9f 


THE   PLAGUE. 

"  at  the  fame  time,  it  is  certain  that  they  diminish  niofe 
"  or  lefs  the  wholefomenefs  of  the  atmofphere  with 
"  which  they  are  mingled."*  Of  late  the  vapours  of 
pure  nitrous  acid  (the  nitric,  according  to  the  new  no- 
menclature) has  been  recommended*  with  the  boldeffi 
appeal  to  experience  ;  but  the  confideration  of  this  na- 
turally belongs  to  the  fecond  part  of  this  work,  where  we 
ihall  have  occafion  alfo  to  confider  the  theory  of  the 
feptic  acid.  In  the  mean  time  we  miift  go  on  with  lomei 
farther  account  of  the  different  modes  of  fumigation. 

"  There  is  no  better  corrective  (fays  Allen  from  Die- 
"  merbroeck-f )  of  a  peftilential  air,  than  fire  ;  as  much 
"  experience  has  taught  us*  Hippocrates  fubdued  and 
"  extinguifhed  that  famous  plague,  which  came  amongft 
"  the  Grecians  from  Ethiopia  ;  for  he  commanded  great 
"  fires  to  be  kindled  throughout  the  whole  city,  efpe- 
"  cialiy  in  the  night  time,  to  purge  away  the  pollutions 
"  of  the  ain  It  is  believed  that  a  fire  made  with  juni- 
"  per-wood  or  am,  tends  much  to  correct  the  venomous 
'*  corruptions  of  the  air.  The  kindling  of  fulphur  and 
"  gun -powder  purify  the  air,  and  drive  away  its  corrup- 
"  tions  $  fo  does  the  burning  of  amber,  pitch,  frankin- 
"  cenfe,  &c.  fo  do  the  fumes  of  vinegar  raifed  with  red- 
54  hot  irons,  or  bricks."  According  to  Etmuller*  "  Hip- 
"  pocrates  drove  away  that  famous  plague  in  Greece  by 
u  the  ufe  of  fulphur  j  the  fumes  of  it  are  very  much 
u  commended  to  correct  the  air^  and  make  drink  more 
<c  wholefome ;  it  prevents  all  manner  of  corruptions  and 
*c  alterations,  as  well  as  the  putridinous  alteration  of  the 
"  blood.  In  a  great  degree  of  malignity,  the  fhirt  and 
cc  clothes  may  be  impregnated  with  the  fume  of 
"  fulphur." 

Here  we  have  accounts  of  a  difeafe^  called  that  famous 
plague,  driven  away  by  two  different  methods  j  and,  to 
complete  our  dilemrria^  Dr.  Carieftrinus  tells  us  that  the 
plague  at  Athens  is  faid  to  have  been  ftaid  "  by  fprinkling 
the  ftreets  with  wine."  What  an  expenfive  remedy* 
when  the  odour  of  privies  was  afterwards  found  to  an^ 

fwer 

*  Med,  Repof.  vol.  ii,  p.  433.  f  Synopfis,  vol.  i,  p.  So. 

Uu 


33c>  A   TREATISE    ON 

fwer  as  well  !  "  Whilftthe  plague  was  raging  at 
"  kow,  an  earthquake*  happened  on  the  very  day  that  it 
"  began  to  decline.  In  this  cafe  did  any  vapour  iflue 
"  from  the  earth  deftrudtive  of  the  peililential  conta- 
"  gion  ?  or  did  former  noxious  exhalations  ceafe  in 
"  confequence  of  the  convulfion  of  the  earth  P-f*  Sor- 
"  bait  relates,  that,  in  the  time  of  the  vintage  in  the 
"  neighbourhood  of  Mofelle,  the  plague  ceafed  like  a 
"  miracle,  while  the  muft  was  in  a  fermenting  ftate. 
"  At  Vienna  likewife  it  was  obferved  that,  during  and 
"  at  the  clofe  of  the  vintage,  the  difeafe  manileftly  de- 
"  clined  ,  which  may  have  been  owing  to  the  great 
"  quantity  of  fixed  air  in  the  atmofphere."  . 

To  this  our  author  adds,  that  "  places  adjoining  td 
46  fpice-fhops  have  generally  remained  free  from  infec- 
"  tion  5  and,  in  the  plague  of  London,  all  thofe  em- 
"  ployed  in  fhipbuilding  efcaped  the  difeafei  Smiths 
*c  alfo  and  cooks  remained  un infe&ed."  M.  Volney 
tells  us  that,  in  Egypt,  water-carriers  are  exempted  -9 
and  Baldwin,  that  oilmen  are  in  the  fame  happy  pre- 
dicament ;  while  on  the  other  hand  Allen  quotes  Boer- 
haave  faying,  that "  Foreftus,  Diemerbroeck,  the  French, 
"  English,  and  Germans,  obferved,  that  all  dealers  in 
"  foap,  wafhers,  and  all  who  by  their  bufinefs  ufed  foap, 
*£  nay,  who  only.  fwore  flirts  %va(}>ed  with  foap,  prefently 
"  died  of  the  plague.'* 

From  fo  many  and  fo  difcordant  opinions,  the  only 
conclufion  we  can  draw  is,  that,  when  once  a  peftilence 
has  invaded  a  country,  there  is  not  any  poffibility  of 
operating  upon  the  contagion  in  fuch  a  manner  as  to 
deftroy  it.  If  the  plague  ceafes,  it  muft  do  fo  naturally, 

and 

*  Earthquakes,  as  we  have  already  feen,  might  be  accounted  rather  zjign 
or  caufe  of  the  beginning  of  peftilence,  than  of  its  departure.  A  great  quantity 
of  eledricity  in  the  atmofphere'has  accordingly  been  enumerated  among  the 
£gns  of  an  approaching  peftilence.  Thus  in  Burnet's  Thefaurus,  p.  699,  we 
find  among  the  previous  figns  of  a  plague,  ««  plurima  et  fere  continua  nodlurna 
iulgora, 'fine  pluviis  et  tonitiuis,  ccelo  non  nubiloio  exiftante."  Very  much 
and  almoft  continual  lightning  at  night,  without  rain  or  thunder ;  the  Iky  m 
the  mean  time  not  being  covered  with  clouds. 

•f  Before  we  can  attach  any  degree  of  probability  to  either  of  thefe  fuppo- 
jfitionsi  it  muft  be  proved  that  plagues  arife  out  of  the  earth.  But  thisr  thougfe 
as  plaufibie  as  w*ny  other  hypoth«fesi  is  not  yet  Supported  by  any  J 
proofi 


THE   PLAGUE,  .331 

and  we  cannot  accelerate  this  ceflation.  This  is  -entirely 
conformable  to  the  opinion  of  Dr.  Patrick  Ruffel. 
Speaking  of  the  decline  of  the  plague  at  Marfeilles,  and 
the  vigorous  exertions  of  the  magiftrates  to  put  a  flop 
to  it,  he  fays,  "  The  caufes  now  enumerated  might  no 
"  doubt  have  fome  effed:,  but  a  more  powerful  and 
"  general  caufe  had  begun  long  before  to  reftrain  the 
"  havock  of  the  peftilence,  which  had  declined  vifibty 
"  in  the  month  of  September,  and  in  thofe  of  OCtober, 
"  November  and  December  declined  with  a  rapidity 
"  not  afcribable  to  the  exertions  of  the  mod  vigorous 
"  police.  This  caufe  is  generally  fuppofed  to  be  fome 
"  change  in  the  conftitution  of  the  air  ;  but  which  has 
"  hitherto  been  defined  with  no  better  fuccefs  tha.n  that 
"  peculiar  (late  of  the  atmofphere  which,  in  conjunction 
"  with  contagion,  is  abfolutely  neceflary  to  render  the 
<e  plague  epidemical." 

Dr.Ruffel  takes  notice  of  the  methods  of  extinguifli- 
ing  contagion  already  mentioned,  by  kindling  fires,  &c. 
and  difapproves  of  them.  We  fhall  not  therefore  fpend 
more  time  in  confidering  whether  or  not  there  is  any 
probability  of  eradicating  or  mitigating  the  violence  of 
a  plague  when  once  it  is  introduced.  However  this 
may  be  impracticable  in  fo  large  a  fpace,  it  feems  that  it 
certainly  may  be  done  in  fmailer  fpaces,  (hips  for  in- 
ftance  ;  or,  if  not  with  the  true  plague,  at  leaft  with  ma- 
lignant and  infectious  fevers.  Dr.  Trotter,  in  his  Me- 
dicina  Nautica,  has  laid  down  methods  for  accomplifli- 
ing  this,  and  expreiles  the  higheft  confidence  in  their 
fuccefs.  He  adopts  the  doctrine  of  contagion,  of  which 
he  gives  the  fame  definition  that  in  this  treatife  is  given 
of  infetlion,  viz.  "  Something  propagated  from  difeafecl 
41  bodies,  or  from  fubfbances  that  have  been  in  contaCfe 
:<  with  them,  producing  a  limilar  difeafe  in  other  per- 
<{  fons*— the  propagation  of  contagion,  as  well  as  its 
'"  reception  into  the  healthy  body.  A  more  aggravated 
<c  degree  of  malignity  will  generate  a  greater  quantity  of 
"  infeClion,  and,  as  it  may  be  confined  in  a  larger  or 
*'  fmailer  fpace,  it  will  be  lefs  or  more  noxious.  A  fe- 

"  ver 

*  Mcdicina  Nautica,  p.  i7«»  *'/<£•! 


33*  A    TREATISE    ON 

«  ver  may  be  called  malignant,  when,  with  the  fymptoms 
f  of  debility,  there  is  a  cadaverous  fmell  arifmgfrom  the 
^  body,  an  unufual  foetor  of  the  breath,  ftools,  and  other 
*c  excretions,  the  tongue  black  and  parched,  the  eye 
*'  dufky  or  yellow,  the  countenance  bloated  and  dejefted, 
"  and  the  fkin  fallow.  In  approaching  a  fick  bed  of  this 
"  kind,  a  perfon  not  much  accuftomed  to  fuch  vifits 
"  will  be  very  liable  to  receive  the  infedion ;  and  the 
"  unpleafant  fmell  will  be  much  fooner  perceived  than, 
"  by  the  phyfician  or  other  attendants.  We  conclude 
ct  that  a  malignant  typhus  is  more  apt  to  generate  con- 
"  tagion,  becaufe  ilight  cafes  are  found  not  to  extend 
"  to  others,  even  though  no  mode  ot  precaution  has  been 
"  ufed.  The  difeafe  itfelf  is  incapable  of  generating  in- 
"  feiftion,  till  after  a  certain  period  ;  but  this  period  is 
"  uncertain  :  it  feems  to  depend  on  the  nature  of  the 
C£  fymptoms,  whether  they  are  mild  or  malignant.  Wt 
^  are  ajfured  of  this  f aft ,  from  a  timely  feparation  having 
*e  prevented  the  farther  progrefs  ;  and  by  this  means  ALONE, 
"  /  apprehend,  we  eradicate  contagion  in  SHIPS,  or  ANT 
"  WHERE  ELSE.  In  the  fmall-pox*  the  difeafe  feems 
*c  incapable  of  infedling  another  perfon  before  the  fecond 
<c  or  third  day  of  the  eruption.  With  the  meafles  it  is 
"  otherwife.  The  difeafe  may  be  propagated  at  the 
*e  moft  early  ftage  of  the  eruption  ;  and,  if  I  was  to  be  aU 
cc  lowed  to  conjediure  on  the  fubje£t,  I  would  fay,  that 
"  the  contagion  is  the  offspring  of  the  catarrh  (the  cough 
<c  and  hoarlenefs  refembling  a  cold)  which  accompanies 
V.  the  meailes. 

".  Subftances  imbued  with  the  exhalations  from  in- 
?e.  feded  bodies,  if  not  expofed  to  the  air,  have  their  pow- 
<c  ers  of  communicating  the  difeafe  increafed  ;  or,  ia 
"  other  words,  the  in  left  ion  from  fomites  (infeded  cotton, 
"  clothes,  &c.)  is  faid  to  become  more  virulent  than  it 
*'  was  when  firft  feparated  from  the  body.  "  I  am 

*  In  the  plague,  Dr.  R,ufiel,has  obferved,  that  thofe  who  die  in  a  very  fho* 
time  are  much  lefs  ready  to  communicate  infe<5Hon,  than  tliofe  who  live  lon- 
ger He  aHb  takes  notice!  that  «*  the  plaigue»  though  a  contagious  difeafe,  is 
««  not  equally  contagious  in  every  period  of  the  peftilential  feafon.  In  the 
"  beginning  thofe  frequenting  the  fick  often,  efcape  unhurt*  or  one  only*  out 
"  of  feveral,  'is  infeded.  The  efcape  of  perfons  employed  about  the  fick", 
••  proves  a  frequent  eaufe  of  mifleading  the  popular  opinion  of  the  difeafci  and 
««  has  in  many  inftances  occa^ioHed  much  mifch:sf»  by  er^ou^asing  th.e  ncdec^ 
M,  of  due  precautions  till  too  late.'* 


THE  PLAGUE.  333 

*e  I  am  of  opinion,  with  others,  that  the  exhalations  or 
*c  excretions  of  the  fick  are  the  vehicles  of  contagion.  It 
"  is  thefe  which  impregnate  the  atmofphere  with  nox- 
*'  ious  matter  :  they  affect  in  like  manner  bed-clothes,  or 
"  apparel,  and  every  thing  that  can  imbibe  them,  when 
"  in  contact  with  the  difeafed  body.  When  bed-clothes, 
"  or  body-linen,  but  particularly  filk  or  woolen  cloth, 
"  have  been  expofed  to  thefe  exhalations,  and  then  heap- 
"  ed  together  for  a  length  of  time,  the  noxious  efflu- 
"  via  are,  as  it  were,  multiplied,  and  will  more  certainly 
s;  infect  others  than  they  did  at  firft.  The  bales  of  goods 
"  which  brought  the  plague  to  Marfeilles,  and  affected 
"  the  people  that  opened  them  fo  fuddenly,  had  their 
*'  virulence  increafed  by  not  being  duly  ventilated. 
*c  When  the  jail-fever  was  brought  into  court  by  the 
"  prifoners  at  Oxford  affizes,  and  more  lately  at  the 
* '  Old  Bailey,  the  fever  was  propagated  from  the  clothing 
"  of  the  prifoners  j  no  doubt,  from  being  confined  in 
"  impure,  ill-aired  cells,  this  infection  became  more  vi- 
"  rulent.  The  highly  concentrated  flate  of  contagion, 
"  in  the  bales  of  goods,  could  only  have  been  brought 
"  to  that  degree  of  virulence  from  the  clofenefs  of  the 
*'  package  :  it  cannot  be  fuppofed  that  human  beings 
"  could  have  put  them  together  otherwife.  The  nurfes 
*'  of  hofpitals  know  well,  as  Dr.  Lind  tells  us,  that  there 
f"  is  mod  danger  of  catching  a  fever  when  they  pile 
"  heaps  of  bed-clothes  or  body-linen  together  for  a 
"  few  days,  before  it  is  carried  to  the  wafh-hpufe.  The 
*'  wafher-women  at  Hailar  have  alfo  told  me  the  fame 
<c  thing.  They  know  when  a  dangerous  fever  is  in  the 
"  hofpital  by  the  bad  fmell  of  the,  clothes :  this  makes 
"  them  air  them  abroad,  till  the  fmell  is  gone,  and  then 
"  they  can  wafhthem  with  fafety.  But,  if  it  happened, 
*c  from  the  hurry,  that  this  could  not  be  done,  or  if  it 
"  was  negleded  by  deftgn,  many  of  them  were  feized 
"  with  the  iicknefs.  The  porters  and  people  employed 
"  in  cleaning  and  fumigating  the  blankets  and  beds  at 
"  Haflar  are  well  acquainted  with  this  fact,  and  they 
V  meafure  the  danger  by  the  badnefs  of  the  fmell.  This 
fc  ought  to  inftruft  every  body  to  ftand  to  windward  of 

thefe 


334  A.   TREATISE   ON 

"  thefe  infe&ed  fubftances  when  they  are  opened ;  as 
4t  the  current  of  air  would  then  carry  it  the  other  way. 
"  In  one  of  the  courts  of  juftice,  the  people  who  flood 
"  between  the  priibners  and  a  window,  into  which  the 
*e  wind  blew,  efcaped  the  infection,  while  thofe  on  the 
"  other  fide  were  fufferers. 

"  In  the  fummer  of  1 793,  while  the  Oreftes  brig,  com- 
f<  manded  by  Lord  Auguftus  Fitzroy,  lay  at  Plymouth, 
"  (lie  was  anchored  very  near  and  to  leeward  of  an 
"  army  tranfport,  which  had  on  board  a  very  malignant 
**  fever  among  the  foldiers.  While  the  foldiers  were 
*'  moved  on  deck,  to  go  on  fhore  to  the  hofpital,  the 
"  crew  of  the  Greftes,  from  curiofity,  walked  on  deck  to 
"  look  at  them.  Such  was  the  concentrated  ilate  of 
**  the  contagion  among  the  clothing  and  bedding  of 
**  thefe  troops,  on  bringing  them  from  below,  that 
**  eighteen  people  belonging  to  the  brig  were  quickly 
"  feized  with  the  fame  fever,  the  infection  of  which 
*'  had  been  conveyed  by  the  current  of  wind.  It  did 
<c  not,  however,  extend  much  farther  in  the  Oreftes, 
<6  from  the  attention  of  her  commander.  But  this 
*'  ought  to  be  a  caution  for  fhips  to  keep  clear  of  thofe 
4C  that  have  fevers  on  board,  as  a  virulent  CONTAGION 
^  may  be  conveyed  to  a  confiderable  diftance. 

"  Dr.  Lind  is  inclined  to  think  that  wafhing  the 
**  bed-linen  in  hot  water,  even  when  firit  fhifted,  is  aN 
*'  tended,  with  much  riik  ;  and  that  the  noxious  matter 
<c  may  be  volatilized  by  the  heat  of  the  water,  and  affect 
«'  the  woman.  For  this  purpofe  he  has  recourfe  to  his 
*'  favourite  procefs,  of  fumigation,  to  infure  the  wafher- 
<«  woman.  The  heat  of  his  fumigating  furnace  would 
"  no  doubt  dry  the  linen,  and  exhale  any  moifture  ;  but 
*-c  our  pra&ice  in  the  Charon  (the  hofpital  (hip)  was,  to 
**  plunge  everything  as  it  came  from  the  bed  into  a  tub  of 
*'  hot  water  kept  ready  on  purpofe.  The  linen  waswafh- 
<c  eel -and  dried  immediately  after.  We  had  in  that  hof- 
^  pital  many  malignant  cafes  of  typhus,  and  fome  deaths^ 
**  yet  no  infection  was  ever  fpread  there." 

Our  author  next  proceeds  to  inquire  into  the  caufe  of 
this  exceffive  concentration  cf  the  infectious  matter  in 


THE    PLAGUE. 

fotnites,  or  clothes,  bed-clothes,  bale-goods,  &c.  The 
mod  plaufible  reafon,  he  fays,  that  could  for  fome  time 
be  affigned  for  this,  "  was,  the  generation  of  animalcula  ; 
<£  the  cotton  or  woollen  clothing  was  faid  to  ferve  as  a 
"  nefl  for  the  corpufcles  to  multiply  ;  and  thus  the  con- 
"  tagiou  was  thought  to  increafe  feven  fold."  This 
theory  had  an  effect  on  the  practice  of  phyficians,  both  as 
to  the  prevention  and  cure  of  fevers  fuppofed  to  proceed 
from  thence.  Our  author  looks  upon  the  hypothecs  to 
be  chimerical,  becaufe  none  of  thefe  animalcules  have 
ever  been  made  vifible  by  the  bed  microfcopes.  But 
there  is  no  neceflity  for  fuppofing  the  animalcules  to  be 
invifible  to  the  naked  eye.  They  may  creep  on  the 
ground,  or  fly  in  the  air,  without  being  obferved  by  us. 
Mr.  Baker's  difcovery.of  the  infect  which  not  only  poi- 
foned  eleven  hundred  thonfand  times  its  bulk  of  water, 
but  infected  a  much  greater  bulk  of  air,  with  its  effluvia,* 
ihows  that  fuch  a  thing  may  bepoffibk}  and  in  dubious 
matters  bare  poffibility  ought  always  to  produce  in- 
quiry. If  the  perfpiration  of  human  bodies  when  con- 
fined becomes  noxious,  why  may  not  that  of  a  multi- 
tude of  infects  be  fo  too  ?  There  is  no  necefltty  for 
fuppofmg  that  an  infect  muft  be  fwallowed,  or  inhaled 
by  the  breath,  before  it  can  do  hurt.  What  Dr.  Trot- 
ter fays  of  the  variolous  contagion  emitted  from  the 
human  body  will  apply  equally  to  infects.  "  What  has 
been  called  the  infenfible  perfpiration  (lays  he)  which 
arifes  from  the  furface  and  the  lungs,  we  have  a  right 
to  believe  carries  with  it  in  folution  a  portion  of  the 
"  variolous  matter  which  charges  the  atmofphere  with 
<s  the  contagion  of  fmall-pox,  even  in  fuch  quantities  as 
"  to  impregnate  the  clothing  of  attendants  and  vifitors  ; 
"  by  which  means  it  has  been  frequently  carried  to  fa- 
"  milies  and  villages  many  miles  diftant  from  its  fource.'* 
The  fmallnefs  of  fiza  of  infects  can  be  little  objection 
here.  A  fkunk  is  but  a  fmall  animal,  yet  it  fpreads  its 
odour  farther  than  an  hundred  difeafed  human  bodies 
could  propagate  the  plague.^  On 

*  P.  189. 

t  Here,  I  hope,  it  will  not  be  thought  unreafonable  to  digrefs  a  little  in 
favour  of  the  fenfations  of  humanity,  which  on  all  occafions  ought  to  prcdo- 


" 


336  A   TREATISE    O& 

On  this  fubject,  however,  we  may  remark,  that  ttougfc 
-the  nurfes  and  attendants  on  hofpitals  meafure  the  degree 
of  infection  by  the  fmeil,  yet  people  afe  by  no  means 
fafe  in  approaching  patients  about  whom  no  fmeil  can 
be  perceived.  We  have  already  feen,  from  Dr.  For- 
dyce,  that  what  may  be  called  the  pure  infection  of  fe- 
vers is  not  perceptible  by  any  of  our  fenfes  -,  and  there 
are  examples  of  very  offenfive  fmells  iffuing  from  difeafed 
bodies  without  any  contagion  enfuing.  Dr.  Trotter 
tells  us,  that  "  a  patient  in  typhus  was  fent  from  the 
"  Venerable  to  the  hofpital  fhip,  with  a  fostor  about 
"  him,  that  exceeded  any  thing  of  the  kind  that  ever 
"  came  within  the  Doctor's  knowledge.  After  being 
"  wafhed  and  fhifted,  it  ftill  continued,  and  was  per- 
"  ceived  at  a  confiderable  diftance.  He  died  in  a  few 
"  days,  yet  nobody  was  infected  from  him,  either  rn  his 
"  own  fliip,  or  in  our  hofpital.  There  was  probably 
"  fome  peculiarity  of  conftitution  here."  In  M.  Dei- 
dier's  experiments,  above  related*  the  dog  which  eat 
the  dreflings  of  the  plague  fores,  after  being  infected  -with 
the  diieafe,  emitted  a  very  difagreeable  odour,  but  we 
do  not  find  that  the  odour  was  in  any  way  infectious. 
In  the  Encycloped.  Britan.  art.  Me$.  Hydrophobia,  we 
find  an  account  of  an  hydrophobic  patient  (and  a  pa- 
tient who  recovered)  in  whom  the  blood  drawn  from  a 
vein  was  as  black  as  ink,  and  flunk  abominably,  yet  this 
flench  was  attended  with  no  bad  confequence.  There 
is  therefore  no  effcntial  connexion  between  offenfive 
fmells  and  contagion  ;  yet,  as  they  are  fometimes  united^ 
the  abfence  of  the  frnell  ought  not  to  encourage  us  rafhly 
to  go  into  fufpicious  places,  neither  ought  the  prefence 
of  it  to  deter  us  from  venturing  where  we  have  otherwife 
good  reafon  to  do  fo.  Having 

initiate  in  our  minds.  Birds  are  the  natural  enemies  of  that  hateful  clafs  of 
beings  we  call  infc£i*y  and  which  in  general  are  the  natural  enemies  of 
man.  In  proportion  to  the  havock  we  make  among  the  former,  the  latter  will 
multiply  upon  us  whether  we  will  or  not.  The  wanton»  indifcrimJnate»  and 
I  may  add  provoking,  deftru&ion  exercifed  among  this  ufefal  as  well  as 
beautiful  and  agreeable  part  of  the  creationi  muft  certainly  be  fometimes  at- 
tended with  bad  confequences.  Though  birds  feed  on  many  different  kinds 
of  inledts,  yet  there  are  exceptions.  If  then  we  totally  exterminate  a  fpecjes 
of  birds,  is  it  not  probable  that  a  fpecies  of  infeils  might  appear,  the  mifchief 
done  by  which  we  could  not  be  able  to  counteract  ?  Qterc,  Is  it  not  pof* 
that  the  H'Jpan  fy  may  have  made  its  appearance  from  this  caufe  i 


"THE   PLAGUE.  337 

Having  given  up  the  doctrine  of  animalcula,  the 
t)odtor  goes  on  to  explain  the  do&rine  of  concentrated' 
contagion  in  a  manner  very  fimilar  to  that  given  in  this 
treatife,  viz.  from  the  decompofition  of  fome  kind  of 
gas.  "  The  foetor  of  the  breath  (fays  he)  perfpirable 
"  matter,  &c.  evidently  demonftrate  that  they  differ  from 
"  the  healthy  ftate.  The  fmell,  to  our  fenfes,  comes  very 
"  near  what  is  called  fulpkur  ate  d- hydrogenous  gas.  Some 
"  of  the  fluids  within  the  body  would  feem  to  be  in  fome 
"  degree  in  a  ftate  of  a&ual  decompofition  ;  unlefs  we  can 
"  fuppofe  the  mucous  glands  of  the  lungs  fecreting  a  fluid 
*fi  that  taints  the  expired  air  in  this  manner.  The  decom- 
"  pofition  of  the  fat,  which  fometimes  difappears  very  fud- 
"  denly  in  fevers*  may  give  fome  ground  for  the  fuppofi- 
"  tion  that  a  large  portion  of  thefe  exhalations  are  com- 
u  pofed  of  hydrogenous  gas.  But,  whether  we  can  go  thus 
"  far  or  not,  what  is  feparated  from  the  body>  it  is  plain, 
"  is  more  difpofed  to  decompofition  than  when  the 
;t  body  is  in  health.  Now  this  procefs  will  ftill  go  on, 
"  whether  expofed  to  the  atmofphere  or  not,  with  this 
"difference,  that,  by  expofing  fubftances  which  have 
"  imbibed  the  exhalations  of  the  difeafed  to  a  free  air, 
"  the  noxious  gafes  will  be  diflipated  as  quickly  as  they 
"  are  evolved  j  while,  on  the  other  hand,  by  laying  the 
<c  clothes  in  a  heap,  packing  them  firm  in  a  cheft,  ot 
"  making  up  cloth  into  fmall  bales,  the  gafes  are  con- 
"  centrated  into  a  fmall  fpace  ;  and  woe  to  the  man 
"  who  firft  infpires  them.  .  .  .  Now  this  does  not  hold 
"  out  an  idea  that  the  powers  of  contagion  are  multiplied, 
"  as  by  generation  ;  for  that  would  be  to  fay,  that  thefe 
"  gafes  are  tkewfelves  what  we  call  the  matter  of  infec- 
1C  tion.  I  would  only  go  fo  far  as  to  aflert  that  they  are 
;<  the  vehicles  of  it,  till  more  certain  experience  fhall 
"  determine  farther." 

With  refpect  to  fumigations  with  nitrous  acid,  our  au- 
thor repeatedly  declares  that  he  has  no  confidence  in 
them  ;  nay,  he  brings  inftances  where  they  feemed  to  have 
bad  efteds.  But  as  the  difpute  about  fumigation  has  no 
connexion  with  the  true  plague,  nitrous  acid  having 
never  been  ufed  as  a  preventive  for  it,  we  fhall  defer  any 

X  x  farther 


338  A   TREATISE    ON 

farther  conlideration  of  it  to  the  fecond  part  of  this  treatife, 
to  which  it  naturally  belongs. 

We  come  now  to  the  fourth  and  lad  mode  of  preven- 
tion, viz.  a  coniideration  of  thofe  means  by  which  an 
individual,  without  ieparating  himfelf  from  fociety,  and 
who  is  daily  obliged  to  have  communication  with  the- 
fick,  may  yet  fecure  himfelf  againft  infe&ion.  Here  the 
means  recommended  are  extremely  various,  and  fome  of 
them  fo  oppofite,  that  we  can  fcarce  avoid  fufpecYmg  them 
all.  The  misfortune  is,  that  though  a  perfon  ihould  go, 
without  fear,  among  the  fick,  though  he  ihould  con- 
ftantly  take  a  medicine,  and  Ihould  never  have  the  dif- 
temper,  yet  we  cannot  fay  whether  the  medicine  did 
preferve  him  or  not.  Were  it  pofiible  to  know  the 
particular  conftitution  of  the  body  which  dtfpofed  fome 
to  refift  the  attack  of  the  difeafe,  attempts  might  be 
made  to  bring  the  conftitutions  of  others  to  the  fame 
ftandard ;  but  unfortunately  our  ignorance  here  is  fo  great, 
that  any  attempt  to  alter  the  conftitution  of  the  body 
has  generally  proved  unfortunate  even  in  other  difeafes. 
Dr.  Lind  informs  us,  that  the  firft  Portuguefe  adven- 
turers in  Africa,  having  obferved,  that  "  fuch  as  had 
"  the  good  fortune  to  efcape  a  fit  of  ficknefs  or  death, 
*'  foon  after  their  arrival,  enjoyed  afterwards  a  pretty 
"  good  ftate  of  health,  thence  concluded,  that  the  blood 
"  of  fuch  perfons  had  been  entirely  changed  by  the  diet 
**'  of  tne  country.  Upon  this  erroneous  principle  they 
"  adopted  a  mofh  fatal  method  of  feafoning  people  to 
"  thefe  unhealthy  climates.  They,  by  fmall  .quantities, 
tf  frequently  repeated,  took  away  as  much  blood  as  they 
*c  fuppofed  to  be  contained  in  the  body,  and  thus  they 
<fc  reduced  the  patient  to  a  ftate  of  extreme  weaknel's." 

From  its  being  obferved  that  people  of  delicate  con- 
ftitutions are  kfs  liable  to  the  plague  than  others,  fuch 
a  miftake  probably  has  alfo  been  made  with  regard  to 
this  diftemper,  but  with  equally  bad  fuccefs.  Alien 
tells  us  from  Diemerbroeck,  "  Phlebotomy,  though  migh- 
"  tily  cried  up  by  many  of  the  ancient  and  modern 
"  phyficians,  yet  we  reject  it  altogether,  as  very  dangerous 
"  and  detrimental -,  for  it  appeared  by  experience  that 

"  thofe 


THE    PLAGUE.  339 

'**  thofe  'who  made  ufe  of  it  for  prevention's  fake  were 
"  feized  with  the  plague  foon  after  bleeding,  wherefore 
"  we  forbad  it  to  all."  This  may  feem  furprifing,  as  we 
find  bleeding  fo  much  recommended  by  Sydenham  as 
a  remedy  ;  but  by  others  it  is  equally  reprobated  ;  nay, 
Dr.  Hodges  tells  us  that  he  never  knew  but  one  who 
recovered  from  the  difeafe  after  the  ufe  of  it.  Iffue£ 
feem  more  likely,  if  not  to  prevent^  at  lead  to  render  the 
difeafe  more  mild  if  it  mould  attack.  They  are  recom- 
mended by  Diemerbroeck,  and  RuiTel  fpeaks  of  them  as, 
"  by  fome  authors,  reprefented  as  aiaioft  infallible." 
He  cannot,  however,  recommend  them  from  his  own 
experience,  having  never  feen  them  opened  for  the  pur- 
pofe  of  preventing  the  plague ;  and  he  juftly  obferves, 
that  when  habitual  on  any  other  account,  they  may  per- 
haps iofe  their  effect  in  this.  "  Multitudes  (fays  he)  of 
"  both  fexes  at  Aleppo  had  iffues  in  their  arms,  it  being 
"  there  a  very  common  remedy  in  a  variety  of  chron,ic 
"  diforders  :  but,  notwithftanding  thofe  outlets,  nurri- 
"  bcrs  perifhed  ;  and  I  did  not  remark  that  thofe  who 
"  had  them  were  in  any  degree  lefs  liable  than  others  to 
«  be  infected." 

Tobacco  has  been  recommended  as  an  excellent  pre- 
fervative,  particularly  by  Diemerbroeck,  who  writes  with 
a  kind  of  enthufiafm  in  its  favour.  "  Being  called 
"  (faid  he)  to  vifit  a  patient  afflicted  with  the  plague,  as 
"  foon  as  I  entered  his  chamber  I  felt  a  mod  offenfive 
"  fmell  of  excrements  (for  he  had  a  diarrhoea)  with 
<c  which  I  was  greatly  affeded.  Leaving  the  houfe 
"  after  a  very  fhort  vifit,  I  indantly  found  myfelf  feized 
"  with  giddinefs,  naufea,  and  lineafinefs  at  the  heart;  fa 
"  that  1  had  no  doubt  of  my  having  caught  the  pedilen- 
"  tial  contagion.  Laying  afide  all  bufinefs,  therefore,  I 
'  immediately  returned  home,  and  fmoked  five  or  fix 
"  pipes  of  the  bed  tobacco  ;  by  the  ufe  of  which  all  the 
"  above-mentioned  fymptoms  fo  totally  vanifhed,  that 
"  I  felt  not  the  lead  uneafinefs  any  more.  Then,  being 
tc  again  defirous  to  go  abroad  and  vifit  other  fick  peo- 
:e  pie,  I  took  a  drachm  of  theriaca,  and  from  thence- 
*<  forward  was  in  perfect  health.  The  fame  thing  hap- 

"  pened 


34$  A    TREATISE    ON 

"  pened  to  me  three  or  four  times  during  the  time  of 
*c  this  peftilence  ;  and  without  lofs  of  time,  according 
"  to  the  quantity  of  infection  I  fuppofed  that  I  had 
"  taken  in,  I  had  recourfe  to  the  more  plentiful  ufe  of 
"  tobacco,  by  which  my  health  was  reftored.  1  always 
"  looked  upon  tobacco  to  be  an  excellent  preventive 
"  remedy,  and  its  fmoke  I  have  fometimes  found  ufeful 
"  to  myfelf  even  in  an  incipient  attack  of  the  difeafe,*'* 
He  then  proceeds  to  inform  us  of  a  report  that  in  a  vio-. 
lent  plague  at  London  all  the  dealers  in  tobacco  were 
exempted.  At  Nimeguen,  however,  they  were  not  fo 
fortunate  ;  yet  of  the  family  of  the  principal  tobacco 
merchant  (Thomas  Peters,  an  Englifhman)  which  was 
very  large,  none  were  infected,  excepting  only  one  fer- 
vant  maid,  and  (he  quickly  recovered, 

On  this  remedy  Dr.  Ruflel  makes  the  fame  remark  as 
on  the  iffues.  "  The  cuftom  of  fmoking  (fays  he)  is 
"  univerfal  among  both  men  and  women  at  Aleppo. 
"  This  too,  from  its  being  habitually  practifed,  might 
<c  perhaps  lofe  part  of  its  prophylactic  virtue  :  at  the 
*'  fame  time  thofe  who  ufe  it  as  a  prefervative  muft 
"  always  be  fuppofed  in  fome  degree  accuftomed  to  it, 
"  otherwife  the  violence  of  its  operation  on  moft  per- 
f<  fons,  on  their  firft  beginning  to  fmoke,  might  prove 
*c  hurtful.  It  fhould  further  be  obferved,  that  the  to- 
"  bacco  commonly  ufed  in  Syria  is  much  milder  than 
<<?  the  American,  and  that  the  oriental  fmokers  feldom  OF 
*c  never  fpit." 

It  hath  been  obferved  that  the  plague  is  flopped  ei- 
ther by  great  heat  or  great  cold,  but  more  readily  by  the 
former  than  the  latter.  "  It  has  generally  been  fuppofed 
"  (fays  Dr.  Caneftrinus)  that  the  cold  of  winter  was 
<e  deftru&ive  of  contagious  matter  ;  but  various  inftan- 
"  ces  of  the  contrary  may  be  colleded.  The  plague  in 
"  Tranfylvania  continued  through  the  very  fevere  froft 
c<  in  1709.  On  the  contrary  it  has  been  found,  that 
cc  excefiive  heat  has  extinguifhed,  or  at  lead  diminiilied, 
i;  peftilential  difeafes.  Daring  the  plague  at  Aleppo 
"  the  weather  was  unufually  hot  ii^  the  beginning  of 

"  July, 

Diemcrbroeck,  Hilt.  17,  lib.  4. 


THE    PLAGUE.  341 

July,  and  it  was  remarked  that  the  difeafe  declined 
confiderably ;  and  in  general  Dr.  Ruflel  obferved, 
that  the  plague  ceafed  at  the  hotted  feafon  of  the 
year.  The  plague  at  Ockzacow,  which  raged  in  the 
years  1738  and  1739,  began  in  the  month  of  April, 
and  continued  with  violence  till  July,  when  it  de- 
clined confiderably,  and  entirely  ceafed  in  the  month 
of  September  ;  in  February  of  the  year  following  it 
4C  re-appeared,  and  totally  ceafed  in  July." 

From  thefe  fads  we  might  be  led  to  fuppofe  that  a 
warm  regimen,  or  occafionally  expofing  the  body  to 
great  heat,  might  be  advantageoufly  ufed  by  way  of 
prevention  ;  but  Dr.  RmTel  juftly  obferves,  that  the  hu- 
man frame,  "  could  it  fupport  fuch  an  application  of  fire 
"  and  fmoke  as  is  neceflary  to  expel  or  deflroy  contagion 
"  from  infected  fubftances,  would  probably  receive  little 
"  benefit  from  it,  if  infected  ;  nor  could  thofe  in  health 
"  fuflain,  without  prejudice,  the  heat  and  denfe  fmoke 
"  which  is  probably  required  for  the  perfect  extinction 
"  of  the  infedlious  effluvia  floating  in  the  confined  at- 
"  mofphere  of  a  morbid  body."  He  is  of  opinion, 
however,  that  fome  kinds  of  fumigations  may  be  of  ufe, 
and  he  mentions  fome  of  thefe,  but  fays  that  the  per- 
fumes ordered  by  the  college  are  perhaps  as  proper  as 
any,  though  their  forms  might  be  rendered  more  fimple. 
Heat  alone  can  fcarce  be  thought  very  proper  for  pre- 
vention, and,  when  the  difeafe  is  once  begun,  is  faid  to 
be  detrimental.  Dr.  Guthrie  quotes  Baron  Afh  faying, 
that  f*  in  heated  rooms  the  difeafe  is  ungovernable  :  it 
is  only  in  free  air  that  it  is  to  be  treated."  But  of  late 
a  difcovery  has  been  made  of  a  furprifing  power  in 
heated  oil  of  removing  this  difeafe,  infomuch  that,  if  we 
can  believe  what  has  been  published  of  it,  we  muft  fup- 
pofe it  to  be  little  lefs  than  a  fpecific.  So  great  indeed 
has  been  the  confidence  put  in  this  method,  that,  by 
order  of  the  Academy  of  Sciences  at  Liibon,  it  has  been 
tranflated  into  Arabic,  French  and  Portuguefe.*  "  The 
"  method  was  firft  propofed  by  George  Baldsvin  efq. 
*-c  agent  for  his  Britannic  Majefty,  and  conful-general  at 

"  Alexandria, 

*  Annals  of  Medicine  for  17971  p.  373. 


342  A    TREATISE   OK 

"  Alexandria.  He  communicated  his  method  to  Lewis 
"  de  Pavia,  chaplain  and  agent  to  St.  Anthony's  Hof- 
"  pital  at  Smyrna  ;  who,  after  five  years  experience, 
"  pronounces  it  to  be  the  moft  effectual  remedy  hitherto 
"'  made  ufe  of  in  the  hofpital  of  which  he  has  had  the 
"  management  for  twenty-feven  years*  Immediately 
ic  after  a  perfon  is  perceived  to  be  infected  with  the 
*c  plague,  he  muft  be  taken  into  a  clofe  room  ;  and,  over 
*'  a  brazier  of  hot  coals,  with  a  clean  fponge,  dipped  in 
"  warm  olive  oil,  his  body  muft  be  very  brifkly  rubbed 
"  all  over ;  for  the  purpofe  of  producing  a  profufe  fweat. 
"  During  the  fridion,  fugar  and  juniper  berries  muft  be 
"  burned  in  the  fire,  which  raife  a  denfe  and  hot  fmoke^ 
M  that  contributes  to  the  efYe&.  The  friclion  ought 
*;  not  to  be  continued  more  than  four  minutes,  and  a 
"  pint  of  oil  is  enough  to  be  ufed  at  each  time.  In  ge- 
t:  neral  the  firft  rubbing  is  attended  by  a  very  copious 
^  perfpiration  ;  but,  fhould  it  fail  of  this  effed:,  the  ope- 
"  ration  may  be  repeated,  firft  wiping  the  body  with  a 
ic  warm,  dry  cloth  -y  and,  in  order  to  promote  perfpira- 
"  tion  ftill  farther,  the  patient  may  take  any  warm  fu- 
*'  dorific  drink,  fuch  as  elder-flower  water,  tea,  &c.  It 
"  is  not  neceflary  to  touch  the  eyes ;  and  other  tender 
66  parts  of  the  body  muft  be  touched  gently.  Every 
"  pofTible  precaution  muft  be  made  ufe  of  to  prevent 
"  the  patient  from  taking  cold,  nor  muft  the  linen  be 
c<  changed  till  the  perfpiration  has  entirely  fubfided. 
<c  The  operation  fiiould  be  repeated  once  a  day,  until 
"  evident  fymptonis  of  recovery  begin  to  appear.  If 
"  there  are  already  tumours  on  the  body,  they  (hould  be 
"  gently  and  more  frequently  rubbed,  till  they  appear 
"  to  be  in  a  ftate  of  fuppuration,  when  they  may  be 
54  drefTed  with  the  ufual  plafters.  The  operation  ought 
*'  to  be  begun  on  the  firft  appearance  of  the  fyrnptoms 
"  of  difeafe  ;  if  negleded  till  the  nerves  and  the  mafs 
^iof  blood  are  affedfced,  or  a  diarrhoea  has  commenced, 
**  little  hopes  can  be  entertained  of  a  cure ;  but  ftill 
*  the  patient  (hould  not  be  defpaired  of,  as,  by  an  af* 
^  fiduous  application  of  the  means  propofed,  fome  few 
"  have  recovered,  even  after  diarrhoea  had  com- 

<c  menced. 


•THE    PLAGUE.  345 

"  menced.  During  the  firft  four  or  five  days  the  pa- 
"  tient  muft  obferve  a  very  abftemious  diet ;  the  au- 
"  thor  allows  only  a  fmall  quantity  of  vermicelli,  lim- 
"  ply  boiled  in  water.  Nor  mull  any  thing  be  taken 
"'for  thirty  or  forty  days,  except  very  light  food,  as,  he 
"  fay g,  an  indigeftion  in  any  ilate  of  the  diforder  might 
"  be  dangerous.  He  does  not  allow  the  ufe  of  wine 
"  till  forty  days.  There  is  no  inftance  of  the  perfon' 
"  rubbing  a  patient  having  taken  the  infection.  He 
"  fhould  previoufly  anoint  himfelf  all  over  with  oil,  and 
"  muft  avoid  receiving  the  infected  perfon's  breath  into 
"  his  mouth  or  noftrils.  The  precaution  to  be  ufed  in 
"  all  circumftances  is  that  of  carefully  anointing  the 
"  body,  and  living  upon  light  and  eafily  digeftible  food. 
"  Mr.  Baldwin  obferves,  that  among  upwards  of  a 
"  million  of  people  carried  off  by  the  plague  in  Upper 
"  and  Lower  Egypt,  in  the  fpace  of  four  years,  he  could 
<;  not  difcover  a  fingle  oilman,  or  dealer  in  oil/*  Lif- 
bon,  Jitly>  1797.  By  Royal  Pernriffion. 

With  regard  to  diet,  and  the  ufe  of  fpiritous  liquors, 
opinions,  as  may  well  be  imagined,  have  been  very  dif- 
cordant.  Alien  quotes  Diemerbroeck  advifing  poor  peo- 
ple to  take  two  or  three  fpoonfuls  of  the  befl  white  wine 
vinegar  every  morning,  which  he  looked  upon  to  be  one 
of  the  bed  prefervatives :  he  recommends  alfo  the  fre- 
quent application  to  the  noftrils  of  a  fpunge  dipped  m 
treacle  vinegar.  With  regard  to  himfelf  he  fays  that  his 
principal  care  was  to  avoid  uneafy  paffions  of  the  mind  ; 
and  that  when  he  found  himfelf  any  way  difturbed  by 
thefe,  he  cheered  his  heart  by  three  or  four  glailes  of 
wine  :  his  common  drink  was  beer,  and  alfo  white  wine, 
fmall,  or  moderately  ftrong,  which  fometimes  he  drank 
to  cheerfulnefs,  but  never  to  drunkennefs.  Dr.  Patrick 
Ruffel  alfo  fays,  that  "  a  glafs  of  generous  wine,  or  any 
''  other  cordial  more  agreeable  to  the  choice,  may  be 
:£  taken  before  dinner,  in  cafe  of  languor,  or  bppreffiori 
"  at  the  ftomach,  from  fatigue,  foetor,  or  apprehenfion. 
*'  I  found  a  rummer  of  old  hock  v&y  agreeable  oti  fitch  occa- 
"  fans"  Allen  goes  on  to  inform  us  from  Diemerbroeck, 
that,  "-as  to  diet,  it  is  advifeable  in  a  peflilential  difpo- 

4<  iition 


344  A    TREATISE    ON 

**  fition  to  ufe  temperance,  which  very  much  contributes 
"  to  the  prefervation  of  health  -y  but  all  fudden  changes 
"  are  dangerous ;  wherefore  it  is  moil  dangerous  fudden- 
"  ly  to  alter  the  ufual  rule  of  diet.  It  is  very  ill  in  the 
"  plague  to  go  abroad  with  an  empty  ftomach  t  hog's 
"  flefli  is  looked  upon  to  be  very  pernicious :  all  fweet 
"  things  are  to  be  avoided  :  wine  moderately  made  ufe 
"  of  is  good,  but  the  abufe  of  it  very  dangerous. — Mer- 
"  curialis  teftifies,  that  among  the  Patavians  and  Vene- 
"  tians,  moft  of  the  tipplers  died,  who  thought  to  driver 
"  out  the  plague  with  ftrong  wines.'*  Mr.  Howard  in- 
forms us,  that  a  perfon  in  high  ftation  at  Conftantinople, 
attributed  his  recovery  entirely  to  the  ufe  of  green  tea, 
others  to  brandy.  He  alfo  mentions  a  Mr.  Hare,  mafter 
of  a  merchant  velTel  at  Senegal,  who,  during  the  preva- 
lence of  a  malignant  fever  there,  was  very  much  expofed 
to  the  infection,  and  who  out  of  humanity  waited  upon 
a  negro,  whom  nobody  would  go  near.  He  took  no 
medicines,  neither  did  he  tafte  either  fpiritous  or  ferment- 
ed liquors,  and  was  the  only  European  that  entirely  ef- 
caped  the  contagion.* 

Thefe  accounts  feem  to  evince  that  little  or  nothing 
is  to  be  expected  from  a  change  of  diet.  This  is  an  at- 
tempt to  change  the  conftitution  of  the  body,  and  can- 
not be  expected  to1  fucceed  any  more  than  bleeding. 
There  is  a  certain  quantity,  and  a  certain  fpecies,  both 
of  food  and  drink,  different  in  different  perfons,  neceiTary 
to  preferve  health,  and  thofe  who  require  both  in  larger 
quantity  or  better  quality  than  others,  are  no  more  to  be 
charged  with  intemperance  than  thofe  who  are  fupport- 
ed  by  the  fmalleft  quantity  of  the  coarfeft  fare.  In 
times  of  danger,  therefore,  thofe  who  have  been  accuf- 
tomed  to  fpiritous  liquors  ought  not  to  give  them  over  ; 
neither  ought  thofe  to  begin  the  ufe  of  them  who  have 
not  ufed  them  before.  From  the  account  formerly 
given  of  the  ftructure  of  the  human  body,  it  appears  to 
be  furnifhed  with  an  apparatus  for  exhaling  or  throwing 
out  a  perfpirable  matter  as  well  as  for  inhaling  or  taking 

in 

*  The  opinion  of  thofe  phyficians  whom  Mr,  Howard  consulted  upon  this 
fubjed  are  given  at  large  in  the  APPENDIX* 


THE    PLAGUE.  345 

in  one  equally  fubtile.      How  far  the  fkin  may  be  able 
to  inhale  or  rather  imbibe   furrounding  effluvia,  may  be 
doubted  ;  but  with  the  lungs  there  cannot  be  any  doubt; 
and  the  effluvia  taken   into  them  muft  unquestionably 
affect  the  blood,  and  of  confequence  the  vital  principle, 
almoft  without  any  rhedium.      To  deprive  the  body  of 
its  due  portion  of  nourifhment  therefore   is  to  throw  a 
temptation  in  its  way  (if  I  may  ufe  the  expreflion)  to  ab- 
forb  any  thing  ;    and  the  fame  effect   muft  enfue  from 
any  other  mode  of  debilitating  it,  either  by  intemperance, 
terror,  or  the  like ;    and  hence  to  vifit  infected  places 
while  under  any  fuch  debility  muft  be  very  imprudent. 
Dr.  RufTel  agrees  that  it  is  a  general  and  rational  pre- 
cept, never  to  go  abroad  fading.      For  thofe  who  can- 
not eafily  bear  fatigue  without  eating  between  breakfaft 
and  dinner,  fome  light  food  may  be  proper*  at  an  inter- 
mediate hour,  in  order  to  avoid  going  into  the  chambers 
of  the  fick  with  an  empty  ftomach  in   the  forenoon. 
~f'  In    fuch  circumftances   (fays    he)  after  a  long  and 
"  fatiguing  morning,  I  have  often  found  myfelf  difagree- 
"  ably  affected  in  my  latter  vifits,  and  have  been  fenfi- 
tc  ble  of  flight  giddinefs,  and  of  the  appetite  flagging  at 
"  dinner,  as  if  fomething  lay  on  the  ftomach.      I  have 
"  known  others    much  more  ftrongly  affected  in  this 
"  manner,  and  confequently  much  more  alarmed.      In 
ct  fuch  cafes  much  no  doubt  may  depend  on  the  fancy; 
*e  but  in  thofe    times  the  power   of  the  imagination 
cc  requires  management.      So  intimately  is  it  connected 
"  with  the  accidental  ftate  of  the  body,  that  the  fame 
"  rifk,  from  which  a  man  Ihrinks  in  a  ftate  of  languor 
l<  and   fatigue,  he  will  encounter  undauntedly  after  a 
"  temperate  meal :  the  ftrange,  unufual  fenfations,  which 
ic  amount  almoft  to  a  perfuafion  of  having  caught  the 
"  infection,  will  often,  like  the  phantoms  of  a  vilion, 
;  vanilh  after  a  few  glaffes  of  wine.*      Whether  any 

"  flight 

*  This  Jo&rtne  of  foncy,  or  imaginatien,  ought  undoubtedly,  as  Dr.  Ruflel 
fays  of  the  imagination  itfelf,  to  be  under  fome  management.  The  indifcri- 
rninate  ufe  of  the  word  has  been  carried  to  fuch  a  length  as  in  a  manner  to 
fuperfede  a!l  evidence,  teftirnony,  argumentation  or  reafon.  With  fome  it  is 
iafficient  to  difcredit  the  moft  pofitive  teftimony  (even  upon  oath)  if  they 

take 

y  v 


346  A    TREATISE    ON 

"  flight  degree  of  real  infection  can  be  thus  diffipated^ 
"  I  lliall  not  take  upon  me  to  determine ;  is  is  fufficient 
cc  for  the  prefent  purpofe  to  indicate  the  means  of  re- 
*e  draining  thofe  alarming  fenfations  which,  when  aggra- 
"  vated  by  imagination,  are  apt  to  deprefs  the  fpirits, 
<c  and,,  according  to  the  general  opinion,  to  reduce  the 
"  human  body  to  that  relaxed,  inhaling  flate  peculiarly 
*c  fufceptible  of  contagion." 

As  to  other  modes  of  precaution,  the  Doctor  advifes 
that  fuch  as  are  about  the  fide  "  mould  guard  the  mouth 
"  and  noftrils  with  vinegar,  avoid  drawing  in  the  breath 
"  while  clofe  to  the  bed  fide,  or  fwallowing  their  fpittle 
"  while  in  the  infected  chamber.  Before  they  approach 
"  the  bed  in  order  to  examine  the  eruptions,  the  bed- 
"  clothes  ought  to  be  removed,  to  give  time  for  the 
"  difperfion  of  a  confined  fleam  which  immediately  dif- 
<c  covers  itfelf  to  the  fenfes  ;  and  it  will  be  advifable 
"  to  dip  the  hands  in  vinegar  before  examining  the 
"parts.  On  coming  out  of  the  chamber  it  will  alfo 
"  be  proper  to  rinfe  the  mouth,  and  wafli  the  hands, 
*'  with  vinegar,  plain  or  camphorated."  He  advifes  alfo' 

to 

take  it  into  their  heads  that  fuch  a  thing  cannst  be  ;  which  by  the  bye  is  as 
ftrong  an  evidence  of  ignorance  as  any  man  can  give.  If  imagination  is  given 
as  a  cau/et  the  extent  and  nature  of  its  powers  ought  to  be  ascertained  ;  but 
•who  has  done  this  ?  On  the  contrary  1  may  fay  that  not  one  in  five  hundred 
who  makes  ule  of  the  word  would  be  able  to  define  it.  But  the  molt  curi- 
ous mode  of  reasoning  ufed  by  thefe  imaginary  gentlemen  is,  if  they  are  afked, 
««  How  do  you  prove  that  fuch  a  thing  is  the  effedt  of  imagination  ?"  they  arc 
ready  to  anfwer,  "  I  can  indeed  bring  no  proof  that  it  is  i'o,  but  how  do  you 
prove  that  it  is  not  ?"  Here  the  imaginaries  have  not  reafon  fuflicient  to  (how 
them  that  they  ought  to  bring  a  proof,  and  not  thofe  who  fay  they  faw  or  felt 
any  thing.  Bat,  waving  this,  fenfe  is  the  higheft  faculty  in  our  nature;  i««- 
si»atien  as  well  as  reaftn  are  inferior  to  it ;  becaufe  neither  the  one  nor  tho 
other  can  be  converfant  except  about  the  objedls  of  fenfe.  If  any  perfon 
therefore  fays  that  \\tfees  or  that  he  feels-  any  thing,  nobody  can,  with  any 
ihadow  of  reafon,  fay  that  he  neither  faw  norfei't  any  thing.  If  one  man  fees 
what  another  cannot  fee,  while  the  fuppofed  objed  is  eaiily  within  reach  of 
the  eyes  of  either,  then  th*  one  who  cannot  fee  it  has  a  right  to'fufpect  that 
theobje<ais  imaginary;  but,  if  the  perlon  himfelt  feels  any  flight  pam  or 
uheafmefs,  and  that  fhould  go  off  in  a  Hiort  time,  after  drinking  a  glafs  of 
\\'ine,  there  is  as  little  reaion  to  fuppofe  that  the  pain  was  imaginary,  as  that 
the  drinking  of  the  wine  was  imaginary.  In  Dr.  Ruflel's  cafe,  though  his 
ftrength  was  in  general  fufficient  to  refift  the  contagion  in  which  he  was  im- 
rnerfed,  yet»  w:.en  that  ftrength  began  to  decay,  it  was  no  wonder  that  he 
found  the  contagion  beginning  to  invade  :  a  few  glafies  of  wine  gave  vigour 
to  the  fyftem,  and  enabled  it  to  repel  the  attack.  Had  he  been  much  fo- 
tiRued  with  bodily  labour,  and  found  himielf  greatly  relieved  by  a  few 
glatVes  of  wine,  furely  he  would  not  fuppofe  that  his  former  fatigue  was  mere- 
ly imaginary.  Juft  fo  muft  it  be  in  the  former  caie  j  the  one  has  no  more  to 
i]o  with  imagination  than  the  other. 


THE    PLAGUE.  347 

to  fumigate  the  clothes  with  nitre,  fulphur,  and  juniper 
fcerries,  burnt  on  a  red-hot  iron. 

"  Upon  returning  home  it  may  be  advifable  to  mift 
"  clothes  immediately,  hanging  thofe  taken  off  upon 
"  lines  in  a  fmall  chamber,  to  be  again  fmoked,  and  af- 
<c  terwards  aired.  -  The  mouth  and  hands  ought  once 
"  more  to  be  well  warned,  and  the  hair  might  be  fumi- 
"  gated  with  a  little  nitre  and  fulphur,  by  means  of  a 
"  pipe,  fo  as  not  to  incommode  the  lungs. 

One  other  mode  of  prevention,  not  of  the  difeafe,  but 
of  incurring  danger  from  it,  is  inoculation.  This  is 
greatly  recommended  by  Baron  Aili  above  mentioned, 
and  not  only  for  the  plague  among  the  human  fpecies, 
but  for  that  among  cattle,  which  frequently  deftroys 
great  numbers  of  thofe  necelfary  animals.  The  cafe  of 
Mathias  Degio  related  p.  272,  (hows  the  practicability 
and  the  fafety  of  it.  The  only  folid  objection  that  can 
be  made  to  it  is,  that  thofe  who  have  once  had  the  plague 
are  not  fecure  from  having  it  a  fecond  time,  or  oftener. 
Yet,  if  we  confider  the  extreme  fatality  of  the  difeafe 
\vhen  it  attacks  in  the  natural  way,  and  that  the  number 
of  thofe  who  have  the  plague  only  once  is  much  greater 
than  of  thofe  who  relapfe,  this  practice  will  certainly  be 
found  to  merit  confideration,  and,  unlefs  fpme  objec- 
tion to  it  be  difcovered  greater  than  any  that  has  yet 
appeared,  feems  likely  to  be  advantageous  to  the  human 
face  in  general. 


SECTION    V. 

the  Cure  of  the  Plague. 

FROM  what  has  already  been  laid  down  in  a  former 
.fection  concerning  the  nature  of  this  diftemper,  it 
appears,  in  its  word  and  moft  deadly  form,  to  confift  in 
the  fudden  breaking  forth  of  a  kind  of  hard  mortifica- 
tions, or  rather  efchars,  like  thofe  made  by  fire,  in  dif- 
ferent parts  of  the  body.  When  thefe  happen  to  fall 

upoij 


343  A    TREATISE    ON 

upon  any  of  the  vital  parts,  it  is  evident  that  no  cure 
can  be  applied.  When  fuch  efchars  difcover  themfelves 
in  abundance  on  the  external  parts,  it  is  likewife  obfer* 
ved  that  the  patient  certainly  dies  ;  whether  from  the 
fame  taking  place  inwardly,  or  from  nature  not  being 
able  to  bear  the  lofs  of  fubftance,  and  to  feparate  fo  ma- 
ny deep  efchars,  is  uncertain  :  but  this  kind,  which  aN 
tacks  without  fever,  has  always  been  reckoned  abfolutely 
incurable.  When  the  tendency  to  internal  mortifica- 
tion is  lefs,  and  the  fiery  blafts,  if  we  may  fo  call  them, 
approach  the  furface,  fo  that  buboes  or  carbuncles  begin 
to  appear,  there  is  then  fome  hope  that  the  patient  may 
recover.  Even  here,  however,  the  cafe  mud  be  confi- 
dered  as  very  doubtful,  and  we  have  feen  that  in  Dr. 
RuffoPs  three  firft  clafles  of  patients  not  one  recovered  ; 
neverthelefs,  as  we  are  not  always  able  to  diftmguifh 
with  certainty  whether  the  patient  is  altogether  beyond 
the  power  of  medicine  or  not,  excepting  where  the 
tokens  formerly  mentioned  appear,  this  kind  only  is 
here  diftinguifhed  by  the  name  of  the  fatal  or  inevitably 
mortal  kind  of  plague.  In  all  cafes,  where  there  is  time 
allowed,  medicine  ought  to  be  employed  ;  but,  as  in 
other  difeafes,  different  theories  have  bred  fuch  a  con- 
tradiction of  opinions,  that  it  is  with  no  fmall  difficulty 
we  can  judge  which  has  any  probability  of  fuccefs.  In 
this  uncertainty,  however,  we  muft  look  upon  thofe  who 
have  recently  had  an  opportunity  of  feeing  the  difeafe  as 
fuperior  not  only  to  thofe  who  have  only  read  of  it,  but 
even  to  the  moft  celebrated  ancient  phyficians  who  have 
written  upon  the  fubjecl:.  Thofe  who  have  had  the  beft 
and  lateft  opportunities  of  feeing  the  diftemper  are  Drs. 
Alexander  and  Patrick  RufTel  at  Aleppo,  and  the  phy- 
ficians to  the  Ruffian  army  when  the  plague  raged  in  it 
in  1770,  &c. 

Dr.   Alexander   RufTel    begins  with  obferving  that 
"  the  difcordant  opinions  of  medical  writers  concerning 

:e  the  method  of  treating  the  plague  are  innumerable. 

'  In  regard  to  bleeding  and  other  evacuations,  they 
<c  maintain  opinions  diametrically  oppofite;  fome  recom- 
<<r  mending  them  as  indifpenfably  requifite,  others  decry- 

"  ing 


THE  PLAGUE.  349 

"  ing  them  as  invariably  pernicious ;  while  both  parties, 
"  with  equal  confidence,  appeal  to  experience.  But,  in 
"  a  difeaie  wherein  reafon  is  often  perplexed,  and  expe* 
<c  rience  itfelf  fallacious,  it  is  greatly  to  be  lamented  that 
"  nature  is  not  more,  and  opinion  lefs,  confulted. 

"  No  traces  of  any  fatisfactory  method  of  cure  are  to 
"  be  met  with  among  the  natives  at  Aleppo.  The  Ma- 
"  hommedans,  holding  the  plague  to  be  a  penal  curfe  in- 
"  flifted  by  Almighty  God  on  a  finful  people,  have  lefs 
"  faith  in  the  efficacy  of  medicine  in  that  difeafe  than 
"  any  other  :  and,  as  the  chief  of  thofe  who  practife 
"  phyfic  are  either  Chriftians  or  Jews,  not  armed  with  the 
"  doctrine  of  predeftination,  and  confequently  apprehen- 
:c  five  of  contra&ing  the  infection,  they  (the  phyficians) 
*c  endeavour  to  confirm  the  vulgar  notion  of  the  inuti- 
"  lity  of  their  art  in  the  plague,  with  a  prudential  view 
"  of  evading  the  danger  of  being  forced  to  vifit  the  fick, 
"  Hence  the  greateft  part  of  the  infected  are  either  left 
"  to  ftruggle  with  the  difeafe  without  any  affiftance 
"  from  medicine,  or  are  under  the  neceffity  of  fubmit- 
"  ting  to  the  diredlion  of  the  meaneft  andmoft  ignorant 
*'  of  mankind/' 

The  whole  pra&ice  of  the  native  phyficians  confifts 
in  bleeding,  let  the  ftage  of  the  diftemper  be  what  it 
will,  and  afterwards  attempting  to  raife  a  fweat  with  the 
infignificant  remedy  of  a  few  grains  of  bezoar  mixed 
with  the  diftilled  water  of  fcorzonera.  On  the  fubject 
of  evacuations  our  author  remarks,  that  bleeding,  even 
very  plentifully,  was  always  ufeful  in  the  beginning,  but 
as  conftantly  prejudicial  after  the  firft  day.  Vomiting 
was  equally  ufeful  at  the  fame  period  ;  with  mere  warm 
water,  if  that  would  anfwer  the  purpofe,  but  if  not,  fmall 
drops  of  ipecucuanha  or  fal  vitrioli  might  be  added. 
Violent  cathartics  were  hurtful,  but  an  emollient  clyfter 
or  laxative  of  manna  and  cream  of  tartar  were  not  only 
fafe  but  ferviceable.  "  On  the  fecond  day  of  the  dif- 
*v  eafe  (fays  the  Doctor)  where  the  remillions  of  the 
*'  fymptoms  were  tolerably  diftinct,  I  have  frequently 
**  and  fuccefsfully  given  an  infufion  of  fenna  with  manna 
c*  and  cream  of  tartar ;  and  it  is  a  fact  confirmed  to 

"  me 


350  A    TREATISE    ON 

tc  me  by  repeated  experience,  that  a  purgative  of  this 
"  lenient  kind,  given  after  the  critical  fweat,  was  the 
"  moft  effectual  means  of  promoting  the  fuppuration  of 
"  the  buboes. 

"  The  natural  crifis  of  the  difeafe  was  always  by  the 
if  fkin.  When  a  copious  fweat  could  be  procured  by 
<c  art,  it  was  likewife  of  fervice  ;  but  the  attempt,  if 
"  made  the  firft  day,  was  attended  with  two  material 
*'  inconveniences :  the  firft,  that  the  common  diapho- 
**  retic  medicines,  if  given  in  the  ufual  dofe,  if  they 
u  failed  in  their  operation,  threw  the  patient  into  a 
i£  flame,  and  greatly  augmented  all  their  fymptoms ; 
*'  the  fecond,  that,  though  they  produced  the  defired 
"  effcd,  it  was  neceffary  to  keep  up  the  fweat  a  much 
**  longer  time  than  moft  people  of  that  country  could 
"  be  perfuaded  to  endure  ;  and,  if  the  fweat  was  prema- 
M  turely  checked  by  expofure  to  the  air,  all  the  fymptoms 
u  were  either  exafperated,  or  (what  was  often  the  cafe) 
*c  a  diarrhoea  was  induced,  which,  though  at  firft  it  might 
*'  feem  to  relieve,  yet  generally  proved  fatal  in  the 
"  end/' 

Contrayerva  and  valerian,  faffron,  the  compound 
powder  of  contrayerva  of  the  Edinburgh  College,  are 
recommended  as  fudorifics  ;  given  in  fmall  dofes  every 
four  hours,  with  acidulated  diluent  drinks.  Thefe  me- 
dicines were  occafionally  joined  with  anodynes,  among 
which  fyrup  of  poppies  was  reckoned  preferable  to  opi- 
um. In  cafes  of  diarrhoea,  Venice  treacle  or  diafcor- 
dium  were  joined  with  the  diaphoretics.  Neither  bark 
nor  fnakeroot  could  have  a  fair  trial,  on  account  of  thet 
prejudices  of  the  people  :  and  on  this  occafion  our  au- 
thor oblerves,  that  "  the  phyfician  who  would  obtain  a 
<£  ready  compliance  with  his  dirc6tions,  in  that  country, 
"  muft  as  feldom  as  poflible  offend  the  palates  of  his 
"  patients  with  naufeous  remedies  ;  for,  whatever  may 
"  be  the  confequence,  they  will  often  rather  choofe  to 
<c  incur  diftant  though  great  rifks,  than  avoid  them  by 
<c  fubmitting  to  prefent  inconveniences.'*  Nitrous  me- 
dicines were  found  ineligible  on  various  accounts  : 
i .  They  did -not,  as  in  other  difeafes,  allay  heat.  2.  The 

ficfc 


THE    PLAGUE.  351 

fick  could  not  bear  them  in  ordinary  dofes  without  lan- 
guor and  dejection.  3.  They  were  apt  to  bring  on  a 
diarrhoea. — The  following  is  an  epitome  of  our  author's 
practice  : 

1.  Bleeding  from  ten  to  twenty  ounces  as  foon  as 
poflible  after  the  feizure.      The   quantity  feldom  ex- 
ceeded fixteen  ounces,  and  even  this  is  greatly  above 
what  is  taken  in  any  other  difeafe  in  that  country. 

2.  After  bleeding,  where  the  naufea  was  confiderable, 
the  fiomach  was  cleanfed  with  warm  water ;    or,  if  that 
failed,  with  ipecucuanha  or  fait  of  vitriol.     It  was  of 
fuch  importance  to  have  both  thefe  evacuations  per- 
formed early,  that  our  author  inftructed  mod  of  his  ac- 
quaintance how  to  act  if  they  mould  be  infected. 

3.  A  gentle  anodyne  fucceeded  the  vomit.     If  by  it 
the  ftomach  was  not  quieted,  an  ounce  of  diafcordium, 
or    15  drops  of  laudanum,   were  added   to   the  faline 
draught  of  Riverius. 

4.  Small  dofes  of  cordial  and  diaphoretic  medicines, 
with  a  very  fmall  quantity  of  antirnoniated  nitre,   were 
exhibited  every  four  hours ;  the  fick  were  encouraged 
to  drink  freely  of  a  decoction   of  fcorzonera  roots  and 
barley,  or  fpring  water  moderately  acidulated  with  fpi- 
rit  of  vitriol.      A  mixture  of  the  acid  with  fyrup  of  vio- 
lets was  kept  ready  to  be  added  to  plain  water.     All  the 
drink  was  given  warm  if  the  patient  would  be  prevailed 
upon  to  take  it  fo- 

5.  In  the  winter  the  fick  were  removed  into  more  airy 
lodgings  than  thofe  in  which  they  ufually  flept,  and  the 
air  of  the  room  was  warmed  or  corrected  by  a  moderate 
fire.     In  fummer  only  the  windows  oppofite  to  the  pa- 
tient's bed  were  ordered  to  be  (hut  ;  but  even  this  re- 
ftriction  was   not  univerfally  complied  with  ;  many  in- 
fifting  upon    fetting  all   the    windows  open   in  the  day 
time,  and  ileeping  on  the  houfe  top  at  night. 

6.  In  cafe  of  faintnefs  and  unealinels,  a  cordial,  com- 
pofed  of  fome  of  the  limple  diftilled  waters,  tinctures  of 
iaffron  and  valerian,  alkermes,  and  fpirit  of  vitriol,  was 
ufed  with  advantage  and  great   refrefhment  to  the  fick. 
This  with  plenty  of  acidulated  drinks  was  the  chief  pre- 
fcription  for  infected  children,  Under 


352  A    TREATISE    ON 

Under  the  above  treatment,  a  fweat  often  broke  out 
on  the  fecond  or  beginning  of  the  third  day  ;  after  which 
the  fick  were  covered  up,  and  the  fweat  encouraged  as 
long  as  they  could  be  perfuaded  to  bear  it.  By  this  firft 
fweat,  efpecially  if  it  happened  on  the  fecond  day,  the 
patient  was  never  freed  from  the  fever,  though  greatly 
relieved.  It  was  therefore  neceffary  to  continue  the 
iame  medicines,  in  order,  by  a  more  plentiful  fweat,  to 
procure  a  perfect  crifis.  Where  the  fweat  was  fuppofed 
to  be  fufficiently  copious,  and  had  greatly  mitigated  the 
fymptoms,  a  mild  cathartic  was  given  in  the  morning, 
though  fome  degree  of  fever  ftill  remained  ;  the  other 
medicines  not  being  intermitted  during  its  operation. 
An  anodyne  was  given  in  the  evening. 

In  cafe  of  an  exacerbation  of  the  fymptoms  or  the 
depreflion  of  the  buboes,  as  fometimes  happened  on  the 
fecond  or  third  day,  it  was  ufeful  to  apply  a  blifter  juft 
below  the  tumour.  A  blifter  to  the  head  was  ufeful  in 
cafes  of  coma  and  debility  of  the  tongue.  The  natives 
were  exceedingly  averfe  to  the  ufe  of  blifters ;  but,  having 
obferved  that  fome  who  had  been  judged  pad  recovery 
had  neverthelefs  ftruggled  through,  apparently  from  the 
ufe  of  blifters,  they  at'laft  came  into  fome  degree  of  cre- 
dit. Cataplafms,  competed  of  garlic,  bread  and  vine- 
gar,  were  advantageoufly  applied  to  the  foles  of  the  feet. 
Thefe,  as  well  as  blifters,  were  ufeful  in  cafes  of  coma  , 
alfo  emollient  laxative  clyfters.  The  dofe  of  the  alexi- 
pb armies  was  increafed,  and  acidulated  drinks,  in  frnall 
quantities  at  a  time,  given  frequently. 

To  the  buboes  it  was  cuftomary  to  apply  fuppurative 
cataplafms ;  but,  as  thefe  could  not,  where  the  patient 
was  defirous  of  walking,  be  eafily  kept  on,  a  diachylon 
gum  plafter  was  fubftituted,  with  the  addition  of  a  few 
cantharides,  or  a  little  euphorbium,  if  a  greater  ftirnu- 
Jus  was  judged  neceffary.  In  moft  cafes  the  buboes  were 
left  to  open  of  themfelves ;  the  natives  being  afraid  of 
the  lancet  or  cauftic,  and  fometimes  operators  being 
wanting.  No  bad  confequence  enfued  on  their  being 
left  to  open  of  themfelves,  nor  was  any  particular  treat- 
ment neeefiary.  Where  they  mortified,  the  treatment 

was 


THE   PLAGUE. 

was  the  fame  as  in  carbuncles,  and  though,  after  the  fe- 
paration  of  the  gangrened  parts,  the  ulcer  often  remain- 
ed wide  and  deep,  yet  they  healed  kindly  and  in  a  fhort 
time. 

Sometimes  the  carbuncles  were  fcarified,  but  oftener 
not;  The  beft  dreflings  were  pledgits  of  yellow  bafilicon, 
with  a  fmall  proportion  of  oil  of  turpentine,  or  fome- 
times  tincture  of  myrrh>  with  an  emollient  cataplafm 
over  all. 

Dr.  Patrick  RufTel  complains  that,  in  Turky,  phy- 
fkians  are  laid  under  fuch  reftraints,  by  popular  preju- 
dices, that  they  are  fometimes  obliged  to  remain  almoft 
paflive  fpeftators  of  the  difeafe.      The  natives  are  fond 
of  bleeding,  and  will  at  any  time  let  blood  in  the   hot 
ftages,  when  the  febrile  fymptoms  run  high.     About  two 
thirds  of  the  infected  were  bled  at  the  arm ;    but  from 
the  rapid  progrefs  of  the  difeafe,  and  the  quick  tranfition 
to  the  low,  languid  (late,  few  were  bled  more  than  once, 
and  that  ufually  within  the  firfl  forty  hours.     The  time 
of  bleeding  was  ufually  the  firfl  night,  or  fome  time  ori 
the  fecondday  ;  but  fometimes  not  till  the  third.    Where 
the  operation  was  repeated,  it  was  ufually  on  the  third, 
fometimes  on  the  fifth*  and  even  on  the  fixth ;    he  has 
even  met  with  inftances  wherein  the  patient  was  three  or 
four  times  bled,  the  laft  being  as  late  as  the  feventh  day. 
In  his  own  practice  he  ufually  advifed  one  bleeding  at 
the  beginning,  except  in  the  very  young,  aged,  or  infirm; 
On  the  firft  day,  if  not  forbid  by  circumftances,  bleed- 
ing was  ordered  by  way  of  precaution  5  but  on  the  fuc- 
ceeding  days  it  was  regulated  by  the  ftate  of  the  pulfe^ 
and  other  fymptoms.     Where  the  infection  was  flight, 
and  the  febrile  fymptoms  moderate,  or  did  not  come  on 
till  fome  days  after  the  eruptions,  it  was  wholly  omitted. 
The  quantity  of  blood  taken  away  feldom  exceeded 
eight  or  ten  ounces.     Cupping  was  ufed  by  the  natives, 
but  never  ordered  by  Dr.  Ruffel.      Children  were  fca- 
rified in  the  legs.      He  feldom  had  an  opportunity  of 
examining  the  blood  drawn  from  a  vein ;   but,  in  fuch 
cafes  as  occurred*  the  general  appearance  was  little  dif- 
ferent from  that  of  healthy  blood  ;    the  craflaraenturh 

Zz  was 


A    TREATISE    ON 

was  fometimes  of  a  darkifh  colour,  but  never  fizy  or 
refolved. 

With  regard  to  the  propriety  or  impropriety  of  bleed- 
ing, or  at  leaft  the  fuccefs  attending  it,  we  can  bed  judge 
from  the  hiftories  of  cafes  given  by  Dr.  Ruffel  at  the 
end  of  his  work.  Of  thefe  there  are  an  hundred  and 
twenty,  with  fome  fupernumeraries,  giving  an  account  of 
the  cafes  of  the  attendants,  &c.  Of  thefe,  fixty-five 
were  bled  ;  forty  died,  and  twenty-five  recovered. 

Of  thefe  hundred  and  twenty  cafes  at  large,  fifty-fe- 
ven  recovered,  as  many  died,  and  the  event  of  fix  was 
unknown.  This  would  tend  to  give  us  fome  confidera- 
ble  idea  of  the  Doctor's  fuccefs  ;  but,  when  we  take  into 
account  the  time  of  the  year  in  which  thefe  cafes  were 
treated,  the  matter  will  appear  in  a  quite  different  light. 
Twenty-feven  took  place  moftly  in  the  earlier  part  of  the 
feafon,  and  were  of  confequence  more  violent  than  the 
others  ;  and,  of  thefe,  twenty-one  died,  five  recovered, 
and  the  event  of  the  other  cafe  was  uncertain.  Of  the 
reft  only  thirty-fix  died,  and  fifty-four  recovered.  Such 
an  excefiive  difproportion  cannot  be  afcribed  to  the  me- 
dical treatment,  but  to  the  nature  of  the  difeafe  itfelf, 
growing  milder  as  it  extended  wider.  In  many  of  thefe 
cafes  it  is  not  mentioned  whether  the  patients  took  any 
medicines  or  not  ;  neverthelefs,  as  it  muft  always  be  fup- 
pofed  that  a  phyfician  would  prefcribefomething  for  his 
patient,  it  muft  alfo  befuppofed  that  all  took  medicines, 
excepting  where  we  are  exprefsly  told  that  they  did  not. 
The  cafes  in  which  he  mentions  the  medicines  employed 
were  the  following  : 

i.  A  young  man  of  2O,fuddenly  felzed,  was  bled  large- 
ly^ had  a  vomit  of  ipecacuanha,  which  brought  off  a 
quantity  of  bile,  but  without  putting  a  ftop  to  the  natu- 
ral retchings.  Some  diaphoretic  medicines  were  given,, 
which  did  not  remain  on  hisftomach,  and  he  did  not 
fweat.  Thefe  were  flopped  by  a  draught  of  juice  of 
lemons  and  alkaline  fait  taken  in  the  act  of  effervefcence. 
Sinapifms  were  applied  to  the  feet,  and  he  died  the  third 
jiight  at  midnight. 

2,  A 


THE   PLAGUE.  355 

*,  A  widow  lady  about  40,  of  a  thin,  delicate  habit, 
in  whom  the  difeafe  came  on  gradually,  was  bled  on  the 
third  day,  and  took  diaphoretic  medicines  and  acidula- 
ted cordials  till  the  9th.  She  died  on  the  i  ith. 

3.  A  Jewifli  rabbi,  between  30  and  40,  of  a  thin, 
fpare  habit,  was  bled  on  the  zd  day,  and  died  early  on 
the  morning  of  the  4th. 

4.  A  Jewifli  boy,  between  feven  and  eight  years  old, 
of  a  pale,  unhealthy  complexion,  was  repeatedly  purged, 
and  had  fuppurative  cataplafms  applied    to  the  buboes 
without  efTed.     He  recovered  flowly.     Dr.  Ruffel  was 
not  called  till  the  feventh  day  of  the  difeafe,  and  we  are 
not  informed  when  the  purgatives  were  adminiftered. 

5.  A  Jewifli  lad  of  14,  healthy  and  florid,  was  vifited 
on  the  third  day.     He  had  already  been  fcarified  in  the 
legs,  and  bleeding  was  ordered  ;  but,  as  he  became  faint, 
only   a  fmall  tea-cupful  could  be  taken  away.     The 
blood,  after  two  hours,  was   found  to  have  a  foft  and 
loofe  texture,  fomewhat  blackifli   on  the  furface  ;  but 
the  quantity  of  ferum  was  not  greater  than  ufual.     It 
had  appeared  of  a  blackifli  colour  at  firft.     He  had  a 
vomit,  draughts  with  fpiritus   mindereri ;  afterwards  a 
diaphoretic   mixture  and   acidulated  cordial,  and  fina- 
pifmsto  the  feet.     On  the  feventh  day  he  fweated  copi- 
oufly,  and  was  much  relieved,   but  foon  relapfed.     On 
the  roth  he  fweated  early  in  the  morning,  and   had  a 
temporary  relief,  but  foon  became  worfe  than  ever.     On 
the  eleventh  he  had  three  ftools  of  black  blood.     One 
of  thefe,  kept  for   the  Doctor's  infpection,  confided  of 
about  three  tea-cupfu]s,  without  any  factor  ;  the  others 
were  "  inconfiderably  fmall."     Some  tin&ure  of  bark 
was  now  added  to  his  ufual  mixture.     On  the  1 5th  he 
had  a  purging  potion  which  operated  five  times,  had  an 
opiate  at  night,  and  tincture  of  bark  with  elixir  of  vitriol 
was  ordered  twice  a  day.     Next  day  he  was  quite  free  of 
fever,  and  quickly  recovered. 

6.  A  Jew  of  a  thin,  fpare  habit,  who  took  no  me- 
dicines, died  on  the  fixth  day.      His  wife,  of  a  delicate 
frame,  and  fix  months  gone  with  child,  was  bled  in  the 
arm,  had  "  proper  drinks"  directed  for  her,  brought 

forth 


356  A   TREATISE    ON 

forth  a  child  in  the  agonies  of  death,  and  expired  on  the 
lixth  day.  They  were  extremely  poor,  and  Dr.  Ruffel 
fays  of  the  houfe  they  inhabited,  that  it  "was  one  of 
thofe  miferable  dwellings  which  he  had  always  confider- 
ed  as  one  of  the  receptacles  of  contagion."  It  did  not, 
however,  appear  to  be  fo ;  for,  though  there  were  other 
fix  in  the  family,  only  one  of  them  was  infected,  who 
died  in  ten  days. 

7.  A  youth  of  a  delicate  conftitution,  a  French  na- 
tive of  Aleppo,  was  vifited  on  the  morning  of  the  third 
day.  He  had  a  carbuncle  on  his  neck,  which  had  been 
miftaken  for  an  ordinary  inflammation,  and  a  phyfician 
who  had  previoufly  vifited  him  applied  a  galbanum 
plafter,  ordering  alto  fome  nitrous  medicines ;  but  the 
plafter  giving  much  pain,  it  was  changed  for  a  common 
poultice.  Live  pigeons  were  applied  to  the  feet.  On 
the  fourth  he  had  a  diaphoretic  medicine,  and  his  drinks 
were  acidulated  with  fpirit  of  vitriol.  The  fymptoms 
increafing,  finapifms  were  applied  to  the  feet,  but  with- 
out effeclb.  Cataplafms  of  garlic  were  applied  next 
night ;  he  had  two  copious  black  ftools,  not  very  foetid, 
and  two  bilious  ones  in  the  morning  of  the  fixth.  By 
thefe  ftools  he  was  greatly  weakened,  and  was  ordered  a 
cordial  with  diafcordium.  He  had  another  ftool,  and 
became  much  worfe.  Cataplafms  were  applied  without 
£fTed,  and  he  died  on  the  feventh  day.  This  patient 
had  a  great  number  of  eruptions ;  but,  though  fix  peo- 
ple attended  him  conftantly,  none  of  them  were  in- 
feted. 

$.  A  Jewifh  girl  of  nine  years  old,  of  a  delicate  frame, 
and  fprightly  difpofition,  was  vifited  on  the  4th  day. 
The  ufual  regimen  and  medicines  were  ordered,  but  fhe 
could  not  be  prevailed  on  to  take  any  thing  befides  an 
acidulated  cordial.  Palm-oil  was  externally  applied  to 
a  carbuncle  near  the  corner  of  the  mouth,  about  an  inch 
long,  and  the  third  of  an  inch  broad.  This  leemed  to 
eafe  the  pain,  but  did  not  prevent  it  from  fpreading. 
The  face  was  alfo  ftrangely  disfigured  by  three  or  four 
ftreaks  of  a  pale  red  colour,  mooting  up  on  each  fide 
from  the  cheeks  towards  the  temples.  The  gangrene 

fpreacj 


THE   PLAGUE,  357 

fpread  rapidly,  and  ihe  died  on  the  evening  of  the  tenth 
<lay. 

9.  A  ftout,  healthy  Armenian  youth,  about  20,  was 
vifited  on  the  firft  day,  and  took  a  vomit  of  ipecacuanha, 
which  brought  up  a  good  deal  of  bile.     An  anodyne  was 
given  at  night,  but  without  effect.     He  took  no  medi- 
cines afterwards  but  an  acidulated  cordial.     On  the 
third  he  eat  a  quantity  of  cherries,  and  drank  fome  iced 
water.     He  died  on  the  fourth.     Here  the  infection 
fpread  violently,  only  one  out  of  fix  in  the  fame  houfe 
efcaping  the  difeafe.     Three  died. 

10.  An  Armenian  woman  in  the  feventh  month  of 
her  pregnancy.     She  was  bled  the  firft  day,  had  after- 
wards diaphoretic  bolufes,  but  did  not  fweat.     On  the 
third  day  me  was  delivered  of  a  dead  child,  and  feemed 
much  better,  but  died  at  night.     After  death  the  body 
was  entirely  covered  with  purple  marks. 

1 1.  A  boy  was  bled  and  had  an  alexipharmic  mixture 
the  firft  day.     A  diarrhoea  came  on,  and  diafcordiutn 
was  added  to  the  mixture  without  fuccefs.     He  died 
the  third  night.     The  infection  was  violent,  only  one 
in  the  houfe  efcaping. 

12.  A  Jew  of  middle  age  and  grofs  habit  of  body 
was  bled  on  the  fecond  day.       He  was  vifited  on  the 
fifth,  had  diaphoretic  powders,  and  finapifms  were  or- 
dered without  fuccefs.     He  died  on  the  6th. 

13.  A  Chriftian  youth  of  17,  taken  fuddenly,  was  vi- 
fited  on  the  fecond  day.     A  cataplafm  was  applied  to  the 
groin ;  he  had  a  vomit  of  ipecacuan,  and  a  diaphoretic 
draught  with  nitre  and  diafcordium  at  night,  but  did 
not  fweat.     Next  day  he  had  acidulated  drinks,  a  mix- 
ture with  fweet  fpirit  of  nitre,  and  a  fmall  proportion  of 
nitre   itfelf.     On   the  fourth,  he  had  two  ftools,  of  a 
reddifli    colour   like  blood,   after    which    he  became 
much  worfe.     In  the  night  he  had  two  other  ftools, 
which  feemed  to  lower  him.     Throughout   the  day  a 
larger  portion  of  nitre  had  been  added  to  his  mixture, 
and  three  tea-cupfuls  of  blood  were  taken  away,  with- 
out the  Doctor's  knowledge,  by  cupping.     On  the  fifth 
the  nitre  was  omitted  i  he  was  ordered  an  aftringent  cor- 
dial, 


358  A  TREATISE    ON 

dial,  but  it  was  not  given  ;  however,  the  diaphoretic 
medicines  were  continued,  and  he  had  three  loofe  {tools* 
which  funk  him  greatly.  Next  day  he  feemed  paft  re- 
covery ;  lying  motionlefs,  infenfible,  his  breathing  quick, 
laborious  and  interrupted  ;  the  ikm  not  cold,  but  the 
feverifh  heat  gone,  and  his  countenance  ghaftly.  From 
this  lethargic  ftate  the  women  attempted  frequently  to 
roufe  him,  by  applying  vinegar  to  his  noftrilSj  calling 
him  loudly  by  his  name,  and  fuch  like  means,  by  which 
they  fometimes  fucceeded  ;  but,  though  he  opened  his 
eyes,  and  gave  figns  of  fenfe,  he  could  not  be  prevailed 
on  to  drink  ;  and  he  remained  filent.  He  would  then, 
for  fome  time,  writhe  his  body  as  in  mortal  agony,  and 
again  relapfe  into  lethargy.  This  dreadful  paroxyfm, 
however,  began  to  wear  off  about  noon ;  and  at  night 
he  was  lefs  difturbed  than  ufual.  On  the  feventh  day 
he  was  manifeftly  better ;  he  had  a  loofenefs,  with  gripes, 
for  which  the  white  decoction  was  ordered  ;  and  he  had 
tincture  of  bark  thrice  in  twenty-four  hours.  On  the 
iixteenth  day  the  fever  was  entirely  gone.  The  Doctor 
obferves  that  this  patient  fweated  much  lefs  than  was 
ufual  with  thofe  who  recovered. 

14.  A  Chriflian  boy  about  17  was  vifited  on  the 
4th  day,  having  taken  forne  abforbent  powders  on  the 
2d  from  another  phyfician.     The  family  would  allow 
no  other  medicines  to  be  given,  except  a  few  grains  of 
bezoar,  and  he  died  next  day. 

15.  An  Italian,  a  man  about  40,  of  a  grofs  habit  of 
body,  and  addicted  to  drinking,  but  who,  finding  him- 
felf  fomewhat  indifpofed,  had  for  two  or.  three  days  lived 
temperately,  was  vifited  on  the  fecond  day  of  his  illnefs, 
had  a  diaphoretic  mixture,  and   a  laxative  medicine, 
without  relief.     In  the  night  between  the  5th  and  6th 
he  had  fome  retchings  to  vomit.     Next  day  he  com- 
plained of  a  pain  at  the  pit  of  the  ftomach,  had  a  vomit 
of  ipecacuanha,  which  brought  off  a  conliderable  quan- 
tity of  bile  by  vomit  and  ftool,  but  without  any  appa- 
rent relief.     He  had  two  foetid  flools,  and  was  ordered 
a  cordial  with  volatiles.     On  the  yth  his  pulfe  was  ex- 
ceedingly funk;,  and  his  extremities  had  been  as  cold  as  ice» 

but 


THE  PLAGUE.  359 

but  with  very  little  alteration  in  the  eyes  or  countenance 
The  patient  did  not  know  that  thefe  parts  had  loft  their 
heat;  and,  notwithftanding  this  change,  the  fenfation 
(till  remained  in  them.  He  died  on  the  afternoon  of 
the  8th  day.  This  patient  had  no  eruptions. 

1 6.  A  Chriftian  merchant  about  50,  of  an  atrabilious 
habit,  and  fubjedt  to  the  haemorrhoids,  on  being  taken 
ill  drank  immoderately  of  cold  water.     He  was  viftted 
next  day.     In  the  afternoon  about  ten  ounces  of  blood 
were  taken  away,  and,  as  his  pulfe  rofe  after  the  opera- 
tion, he  loft,  by  Dr.  Ruflel's  order,  fix  ounces  more. 
Three  ounces  were  afterwards  taken  away  by  cupping, 
and  about  as  much  more  was  accidentally  loft  by  the 
loofening  of  the  bandage  of  the  arm  ;   fo  that  about  24 
ounces  were  taken  away  in  all.     Next  day  he  got  a  few 
drops  of  Carmelite  water,  a  kind  of  fpiritous  cordial, 
which  he  vomited,  had  a  blifter  and  fmapifms  applied, 
and  died  between   10  and  11   at  night.     He  had  no 
eruptions. 

17.  An  Armenian  youth  was  vifited  on  the  morning 
of  the  third  day,  was  bled,  and  had  a  faline  draught 
every  four  or  five  hours.     On  the  fifth  he  was  removed 
into  a  more  airy  chamber,  and  had  Huxham's  tindure 
of  the  bark.     He  died  on  the  ninth  day. 

1 8.  A  young  lady  of  French  extraction,  of  a  thin, 
{lender  make,  was  vifited  on  the  morning  of  the  fecond 
day.     On  the  third  fhe  had  diaphoretic  powders,  and 
loft  a  few  ounces  of  blood  by  cupping,  without  the 
Doctor's  knowledge ;    fhe  had  a  diaphoretic  mixture, 
and  died  on  the  fixth  day. 

From  thefe  accounts  it  is  eafy  to  fee,  that,  in  violent 
cafes  of  the  plague,  medicine  can  do  little  or  nothing. 
Such  cafes  generally  occur  in  the  earlier  months  of  the 
feafon,  though  they  may  take  place,  and  do  take  place 
in  great  numbers,  at  any  time.  In  the  beginning  of 
the  feafon  the  patients  are  almoft  all  attacked  in  this 
violent  manner,  and  very  feldom  recover,  whether  they 
take  medicines  or  not.  It  being  then  an  eftablifhed 
fad:,  that  as  the  epidemic  feafon  advances  the  difeafe 
grows,  milder,  and  many  more  continue  to  recover  of 

themfelves 


360  A   TREATISE   ON 

themfelves  than  did  fo  at  firft,  we  are  naturally  led  to 
fuppofe  that  a  multitude  of  thofe  who  recovered  after 
taking  the  medicines  would  have  done  the  fame  without 
them.  Little  therefore  needs  be  faid  of  the  immenfe 
number  of  prefcriptions  found  in  authors  who  have 
written  upon  the  plague,  as  it  may  generally  be  fuppo- 
fed  that  at  certain  times  thefe  would  have  been  ineffec- 
tual, and  at  others  they  were  ufelefs. — The  following  is 
an  epitome  of  Dr.  Patrick  Ruffel's  practice  : 

1.  Bleeding   as  early  as  poflible,  feldom   repeated, 
except  where  manifeftly  indicated  by  circurnftances. 

2.  Vomiting,  if  fpontaneous,  was  encouraged  by  warm 
water.     If  the  patient  was  affected  by  naufea,  vomiting 
was  provoked  by  warm  water  or  camomile  tea,  aflifted 
by  a  feather.     If  a  bitter  tafte  in  the  mouth  was  com- 
plained of,  ten  or  fifteen  grains  of  ipecacuanha  were 
given.     The  times  of  remiflion  were  laid  hold  of  for 
thofe  remedies. 

3.  Where  fpontaneous  vomiting  continued  too  long, 
a  faline  mixture  was  given,  fometimes  with  opiates  and 
external  applications. 

4.  The  ftomach  being  fettled,  mild  fudorifics  were 
given  in  fmall  dofes,  every  five  or  fix  hours.      In  the 
beginning,  nitre  was  joined  with  contrayerva,  but  where 
it  occafioned  loofe  (tools,  was  left  off.     Spiritus  .minde- 
reri  and  faline  mixture  were  alfo  given  as  fudorifics. 

5.  In  cafe  of  diarrhoea,  dilution  was  firft  prefcribed 
and  then  the  white  decoction.       Laxative   medicines 
were  feldom  admitted  by  the  friends   of  the  patient, 
Diafcordium  and  opiates  were  ufed  in-  cafes  of  obftinate 
diarrhoea. 

6.  In  the  advance  of  the  diftemper  it  was  found  more 
eligible  to  give  the  fudorifics  at  fhorter  intervals,  when 
occafion  required,  than  to  augment  the  dofe,  which  was 
apt  to  occafion  difguft,  and  a  rejection  of  medicine  entire- 
ly ;  confequences  which  alfo   attended  an  attempt  to 
heighten  the  power  of  the  medicines  themfelves.     The 
general  defign  was  to  make  their  operation  coincide  with 
the  periodical  determination  to  the  fkin  naturally  occur 
ring  in  the  difeafe. 

7.  The 


THE   PLAGUE.  361 

7.  The  fudorifics  exhibited   hav;ng  but  fmall  power 
by  themfelves,  it  was  found   neceffary  to  affift  them  by 
dilution,  as  well  as  in  every  other  method  which  could 
be  attempted.     If  the  patient  was  not  naturally  inclined 
to  drink,  he  was  encouraged  to  it  by  offering  agreeable 
liquids,  either  hot  or  cold  at  the  perfon's  option. 

8.  The  diet  was  the  fame  as  in  other  acute  diftempers. 
No  animal  food  ftronger  than  chicken  broth  was  allowed  * 
the  reft  confifted  of  farinacea  and  leguminous  vegetables. 
"  It  was  certainly  neceffary  (fays  our  author)  to  a  cer- 
"  tain  degree,  to  fupport  nature  by  proper  food  ;  but  to 
"  force  it  upon  a  naufeating  ftomach  feems  to  have  been 
"  irrationally    recommended  ;    anda    where  attempted^ 
"  which  the  over  care  of  the  nurfes  frequently  did,  ufual- 
"  ly   excited   vomiting.     I  fornetimes  wifhed    to  give 
"  wine,  but  a  religious  bar  lay  in  the  way  of  Mahomme- 
"  dans,  and  a  prejudice  againft  it,  in  all  fevers^  rendered 
"  it  equally  inadmiffible  among  the  Chriftians  and  Jews." 

9.  For  oppreffion  at  the  prsecordia,  mild  cordials,  aci- 
dulated drinks  and  cool  airwere  found  ufeful.     Through- 
out the  difeafe  accefs  of  cool  air  to  the  chamber  was 
conftantly  allowed,  and,  where  the  chamber  itfelf  was  not 
fufficiently  airyj  the  bed  was  removed  to  the  houfe  top. 
Towards  the  height  of  the  exacerbations^  however,  when 
there  happened  to  be  the  leaft  appearance  of  moifture  on 
the  ikin,  the  fick  were  kept  moderately  covered  up  from 
the  chin  downward. 

10.  After  the  height,  and  through  the  decline  of  the 
difeafe,  the  bark  in  fubftance,  or   Huxham's  tincture* 
were  given  inftead  of  the  ordinary  fudorifics; 

In  the  plague  which  took  place  in  the  Ruffian  army, 
the  greatetl  confidence  feemBto  have  been  put  in  vomits. 
The  difeafe  commonly  began  with  a  dull  pain  in  the 
head,  refembiing  that  produced  by  the  fumes  of  char- 
coal, accompanied  with  fhivering,  univerfal  weaknefs, 
Sec.*  On  the  firft  appearance  of  thefe  a  vomit  was  gi- 
ven, working  it  off  with  acid  drinks,  "  If  the  naufea 
"  and  bitter  tafte  in  the  mouth  was  not  removed  by 

"  the 

*  Duncan's  Med,  Comment,  vol.  viii,  p, 

Aaa 


*' 


362  A    TREATISE   ON 

"  the  firft,  they  gave  a  fecond,  and  fometimes  a  third  or 
4C  fourth  ;  nay,  they  fometimes,  if  the  fymptoms  were 
*'  very  urgent,  gave  two  or  three  in  the  fpace  of  twelve 
<c  hours,  as  there  is  no  time  to  be  loft  in  this  difeafe  $  foe 
fc  they  did  not  find  this  fpecies  of  evacuation  fubject  to 
the  fame  inconvenience  with  purges,  which  a  man  in 
the  plague  is  unable  to  fupport  ;  nay,  they  are  even 
dangerous,  though  he  bears  brifk  vomits,  and  a  repe- 
tition  of  them,  when  the  nature  of  the  cafe  requires  it. 
"  The  ftomach  being  thus  cleanfed,  they  gave  every 
"  morning  a  powder  compofed  of  twenty  grains  of  rhu- 
;c  barb,  mixed  with  as  much  flower  of  brimftone,  and 
"  three  grains  of  ipecacuanha,  exhibiting  alfo,  every 
"  hour,  five  grains  of  pure  nitre  mixed  with  two  grains 
"  of  camphor  j  and,  if  coftive,  a  laxative  clyfter  was 
*c  given  every  evening,  compofed  of  decoction  of  camo- 
ic  mile,  wine  vinegar,  with  or  without  foap,  according 
"  to  circumftances. 

"  The  head,  temples  and  buboes  were  frequently 
"  wafhed  with  warm  vinegar,  and  the  laft  urged  to  fup- 
"  puration  with  emollient  cataplafms  ;  but,  in  cafe  they 
*'  were  found  to  baffle  all  attempts  to  bring  them  for- 
"  ward,  they  were  then  fcarified  or  extirpated,  and  the 
**  patient  ordered  to  drink  plentifully  of  lime-tvatcr. 
"  Bark  was  given  after-  evacuation,  joined  to  the  flower 
*'  of  brimftone  in  the  proportion  of  one  ounce  of  the 
"  former  to  a  drachm  of  the  latter,  divided  into  fixteen 
"  powders,  and  taken  in  twenty-four  hours.  When  de~ 
*c  lirium  came  on,  blifters  were  applied  to  the  legs  and 
"  arms,  and  camphor  given  largely.  Vegetable  and 
**  mineral  acids  were  given  indifcriminately  ;  but  they 
"  found  the  vegetable  kind  fometimes  remain  on  the 
*£  ftomach  when  the  other  was  thrown  up  ^  and  of  the 
"'latter  they  preferred  the  vitriolic.  Acidulated  drinks 
"  were  given  in  quantity  through  the  whole  difeafe,  and 
"  the  food  confided  of  acidulated  water-gruel,  and  fruit 
"  when  they  could  procure  any.  The  air  of  the  room 
44  was  kept  charged  with  acetous  vapours,  as  much  as 
w  poffi-ble,  and  it  was  remarked,  that,  while  the  bitter 
"  tafte  remained,  there  was  little  hope  of  the  difeafe 
<c  abating.  According 


THE   PLAGUE.  363 

According  to  Baron  Am,  "  the  plague  does  not  de- 
"  pend  upon  any  conftitution  of  the  air,  but  is  com- 
"  municated  only  by  contact,  and  they  had  repeatedly 
"  fucceeded  in  fupprefling  it  in  different  divifions  of  the 
14  army,  by  the  immediate  feparation  of  the  infcded 
**  with  their  attendants,  and  burning -every  thing  be- 
"  longing  to  them,  or  that  they  had  touched.  They 
"  found  the  greateft  advantage  in  keeping  the  foldiers 
"  ignorant  of  its  exiftence  till  fuppreffdd  ;  for  by  this 
"  means  they  preierved  their  peace  of  mind,  and  health 
"  of  body  -,  and  they  found  an  exact  military  difcipline 
"  the  beft  prefervative  againft  the  difeafe.  For  the  cure 
"  of  thofe  infected  they  found  the  cold  regimen,  a  free 
e<  circulation  of  aii\,  vegetable  and  mineral  acids,  ipeca- 
"  cuanha,  rhubarb  and  bark,  to  be  the  propereft  reme- 
w  dies.  That,  to  purify  the  air  in  hofpitals  appropriated 
"  for  their  reception*  gun-powder  was  found  mod  effi- 
"  cacious,  probably  from  the  commotion  given  to  the 
*'  air  in  explofion,  over  and'above  its  action  in  common. 
"  with  other  fumes.  To  refift  infection,  courage  and 
*'  fortitude  of  mind  is  neceifary,  as  confirmation  and 
"  terror  feem  to  prepare  the  body  for  the  reception  of" 
"  the  difeafe/* 

Dr.  Sydenham  feemed  to  have  as  great  an  opinion  of 
bleeding,  -as  the  Ruffian  phyficians  of  vomits.  Con- 
fidering  the  plague  as  merely  inflammatory,  he  lays  the 
whole  Itrength  of  the  cure  upon  bleeding,  which  he 
greatly  prefers  to  any  other  remedy.  The  quantities  he 
took  away  were  very  confiderable  j  and  he  gives  an 
inftance  of  a  patient  who  died  from  not  having  enough 
taken  away.  He  alfo  informs  us,  that,  during  the  civil 
wars  in  England,  the  plague  raged  in  fcveral  places. 
Being  accidentally  brought  to  Dunftar  cattle  in  Somer- 
fetftiire,  a  furgeon,  who  had  travelled  much  in  foreigru 
parts,  applied  for  leave  to  give  the  garrifon  what  affif- 
tance  he  could.  This  being  granted,  he  bled  them, 
every  man  as  he  flood,  without  diftinction,  till  ready  to 
drop  down  ;  the  blood  was  fuffered  to  flow  down  upon 
the  ground,  fo  that  no  account  could  be  taken  of  the 
,  They  were  then  ordered  to  lie  in  their  tents  $ 

and, 


364  A    TREATISE    ON 

and,  though  no  kind  of  remedy  was  given  after  bleeding, 
every  one  recovered.*  Notwithftanding  his  opinion  of 
bleeding,  however,  this  celebrated  phyfician  was  obliged 
to  attempt  the  cure  by  fweating,  which  he  fays  he  pre- 
ferred to  bleeding  on  account  of  its  not  weakening  the 
patient  fo  much,  nor  hazarding  the  reputation  of  the 
phyfician  ;  yet  he  fays  it  is  prejudicial  in  young  people 
where  the  powers  of  life  are  ftrong.  His  improved 
method  therefore  was,  firft  to  bleed  moderately,  if  no 
fwelling  had  appeared,  by  which  means  a  fweat  would 
be  more  fafely  and  eafily  raifed.  The  bleeding  is  to  be 
performed  in  bed,  after  which  the  patient  mud  be 
covered  up  with  the  bed-clothes,  and  a  piece  of  flanel 
applied  to  the  forehead.  This  laft  expedient,  he  fays, 
contributes  more  to  the  raifing  of  a  fweat  than  one 
would  imagine.  If  no  vomiting  enfued,  he  adminif- 
tered  fudorific  medicines  internally.  But,  if  the  fto~ 
mach  cannot  retain  any  thing,  he  propofes  to  begin  the 
fweating  merely  by  the  weight  of  the  clothes,  and  now 
and  then  throwing  part  of  the  fheet  over  the  face.  The 
fweat  being  thus  begun,  the  vomiting,  however  violent, 
generally  ftops,  and  the  medicines  will  be  retained,  fo 
that  as  plentiful  a  perfpiration  as  we  can  defire  may  be 
excited.  An  inftance  of  his  fuccefs  in  this  way  he  gives 
in  an  apothecary  who  applied  to  him  in  behalf  of  his 
brother.  A  fweat  being  propofed,  the  apothecary  told 
him  that  he  had  given  him  feveral  ftrong  fudorifics,  all 
of  which  had  been  thrown  up  ;  but  the  Doctor,  having 
firft  fweated  him  moderately  by  the  bed-clothes,  after- 
wards gave  him  a  large  dofe  of  Venice  treacle ;  which 
operating  powerfully,  he  recovered  from  the  difeafe* 
He  advifes  the  fweat  to  be  kept  up  without  inrermiffion 
for  twenty-four  hours  ;  a  fmaller  time  being  inefficient 

to 

*  Dr.  Power»  whowrotCt  in  17321  the  Ancient  Phyjlclan's  Legacy*  had  lodged 
his  foldiers  in  a  church  in  which  thofe  who  died  ot  a  plague  had  been  buried. 
An  hundred  and  eighty  of  the  foldiers  were  leized  either  with  petechizc  or 
buboes.  He  ordered  them  all  to  be  bled  in  fuch  quick  fucccffion,  that  the  arm 
of  the  firft  was  not  bound  up  till  the  blood  flowed  from  the  laft.  Thus  every- 
one loft  about  an  hundred  ounces  (upwards  of  three  quarts.)  He  then  orderecj 
them  water  acidulated  with  fpirit  of  vitriol  for  their  drink;  and  by  this 
treatment  all  recovered  excepting  eightt  wl>o  would  not  refrain  from  fpiritous 
liquors.  I'his  was  tranfaded  in  Peru":  but  in  feurope  the  plague  will  fcarce 
pear  bleeding  to  a  few  ounces.  (Sauvages.) 


THE   PLAGUE.  365 

to  remove  the  difeafe,  and  a  ftoppage  of  the  perfpiration 
certainly  attended  with  a  return  of  the  bad  fymptoms. 
On  this  occafion  he  cenfures  Diemerbroeck  and  others 
for  advifing  to  flop  the  fweat  on  every  flight  occafion. 
The  linen  is  to  be  allowed  to  dry  on  the  patient's  body, 
he  muft  take  all  his  liquids  warm,  and  continue  the  ufe 
of  a  diluting  fluid.  Sage  poflet  drink  is  what  he  recom- 
mends. Next  morning  the  cure  was  finiflied  by  a 
purge  of  fenna,  tamarinds,  &c.  Where  a  fwelling  ap- 
pears, he  diredls  to  forbear  bleeding  even  in  fuch  as  are 
not  apt  to  fweat,  leaft  the  patient  fliould  die  fuddenly 
from  a  return  of  the  morbific  matter  into  the  vefTels. 
Bleeding,  however,  might  be  ufed  with  fafety  even  in 
this  cafe,  provided  a  fweat  was  inftantly  to  be  raifed  ; 
and  thus  he  thinks  the  fwelling  might  be  difperfed  per- 
haps with  more  fafety  than  by  waiting  for  its  fuppura- 
tion. 

This  may  be  accounted  an  epitome  of  the  mod  ap- 
proved modern  pra&ice  in  peftilential  cafes.  The  Ruf- 
fian phyficians  above  quoted  feem  to  fpeak  with  moft 
confidence  of  their  fuccefs.  They,  however,  "  lay  great 
"  ftrefs  upon  diftinguilliing  the  plague  from  the  worft 
<5  kind  of  malignant  fever  in  hot  countries ;  and  it  is 
"  not  without  reafon,  as  bad  confequences  have  attended 
"  the  confounding  of  them  on  the  breaking  out  of  the 
"  plague.  I  am  credibly  informed  that  the  great  havock 
"  made  in  Mofcow  was  principally  owing  to  this  cir- 
"  cumftance ;  for  it  obtained  fome  time  before  it  was 
'•  difcovered  by  gentlemen  unacquainted  with  the  dif- 
"  eafe,  and  before  they  would  acknowledge  its  exiftence, 
"  although  fomc  veteran  army  practitioners  recognifed 
"  its  appearance  under  one  of  its  forms,  and  endea- 
"  voured  to  alarm  their  brethren,  but  in  vain,  for  a 
«  time."* 

From  this  it  is  natural  to  conclude,  that,  when  the 
difeafe  was  once  fairly  difcovered  and  attacked  by  the 
powers  of  medicine,  it  could  not  make  much  refiftance  ; 
yet  Dr.  Mertens,  fpeak  ing  of  this  very  plague,  fays,  that 
to  the  rapidity  of  the  diftemper,  and  many  in^ 

ducements 

*  Duncan's  Med-  Comment,  vol.  viii,  p.  359. 


366  A   TREATISE   ON 

ducements  to  conceal  it,  little  can  be  faid  cf  remedies  1$ 
the  plague.  He  divides  the  diftemper  into  two  kinds, 
the  nervous  and  putrid  ;  the  former  "  comprehending 
**  merely  that  degree  of  confufion  and  difturbance  given 
**  to  the  nervous  fyftem  on  the  firft  introduction  of  the 
*c  miafma,  and  the  latter  commencing  at  .the  time  the 
*c  miafma  begins  to  operate  upon  the  blood  and  other 
"  fluids  by  aflirnilating  them  to  their  own  putrid  na* 
u  ture."  In  the  nervous  ftate  the  miafma  has  fome? 
times  been  carried  off  by  fweat,  gentle  diaphoretics, 
camphorated  emulfions,  juleps  of  camphor  and  muik. 
Gentje  emetics,  particularly  ipecacuanha,  were  found 
ttfeful  ;  but  James's  powder  (which  was  imported  from 
England  in  great  quantity)  did  not  anfwer  any  good 
purpofe.  In  the  putrid  ftate,  the  bark  and  rninera} 
acids  were  ufeful  5  purgatives  were  hurtful,  blood-let- 
ting inadvifable,  and  fcarifying  the  carbuncles,  rccom* 
mended  by  almoft  every  writer,  attended  with  no  good 


Few  of  the  modern  travellers  who  have  vifited  the 
countries  in  which  the  plague  is  frequent,  being  verfed 
in  medicine,  have  faid  much  about  the  cure  of  it.  Ma<? 
yiti  only  fays,  that,  in  the  iiland  of  Cyprus,  infected  pa* 
tients  were  allowed  no  other  diet  than  pure  water,  panada, 
yice,  tea,  &c.  Some  thought  to  ward  off  the  difeafe  by 
drinking  ftrong  liquors,  but  thefe  almoft  always  fell  victims 
to  it.  Whatever  their  methods  were,  indeed,  they  muft 
certainly  have  been  very  ineffectual,  fince  the  fame  author 
informs  us  that,  in  the  plague  of  1759,  in  many  parts 
of  that  iiland  there  were  not  a  fufHciency  of  inhabitants 
left  to  cultivate  the  ground. 

Diermerbroeck,  whofe  name  juftly  ranks  high  among 
thofe  who  have  written  on  the  plague,  trufh  moftly  to 
fudorific  medicines.  Bleeding,  'according  to  him,  is 
abfolutely  to  be  avoided,  as  well  as  purging  and  vomit- 
ing. He  directed  firft  that  the  chambers  of  the  iick 
{hould  be  kept  clean,  and  the  air  purified  three  or  four 
times  a  day  by  fumigations,  and  that  the  fick  fhould 
take  (in  the  beginning,  the  firft,  fecond,  or  third  day) 
draught  +  and  being  well  covered  with  blankets 

plentiful 


THE  PLAGUE.  367 

plentiful  fweats  were  promoted  for  two  or  three  hours  or 
more  (always  having  a  regard  to  the  patient's  ftrength.) 
If  the  patient  did  not  fweat  ealily,  bags  filled  with  hot, 
dry  fand  were  applied  to  the  feet,  armpits  and  groin. 
If  the  fide  were  not  eafed  by  the  firft  fweat,  it  was 
repeated  in  a  few  hours  ;  but  if,  after  the  fecond 
fweat,  the  fever  and  other  fymptorns  ftill  increafed,  it 
was  the  word  fign.  After  ten  or  twelve  hours,  and 
on  the  following  days,  they  were  repeated  four  or  five 
times  as  occafion  required.  Ekfides  this  he  directed  apo- 
zems,  antidotes,  Spc.  which,  as  it  is  mod  probable  they 
had  no  effect  in  removing  the  difeafe,  it  is  neediefs  to 
trouble  the  reader  with.*  That 

*  As  it  might  by  forae  be  deemed  an  afFroat  offered  to  the  wifdom  of  an* 
tiquity,  mould  we  pafs  over  in  filence  the  opinions  of  the  more  ancient  phyr 
Cdans,  I  (hall  in  this  note  give  a  fhort  account  of  fome  of  their  moft  remarka- 
ble modes  of  pjra&icc,  as  they  are  recorded  in  Burnet's  Tb'faurus. 

i.  Foreftus,  in  many  refp«£s  a  refpe&able  author,  recommends  an  antidote 
composed  of  equal  parts  of  rue,  figs  and  almonds,  beat  into  a  pulp  in  a  Hone 
mortar  with  a  wooden  peftie  till  united  (which  is  not  very  eafily  done)  into  an 
uniform  mat's,  adding  as  much  fyrup  of  citrons  with  vinegar  as  would  render 
it  loft,  with  a  little  powdered  fait  put  in  iaft-  The  efficacy  of  this  he  tells  us 
he  experienced  in  faimfelf  as  well  as  all  his  family  as  a  preventive  ;  himfelf 
taking  in  the  morning  the  bigaefs  of  a  fmall  nutmeg  of  this,  made  up  into  A 
eonfe&iort  with  the  ancient  theriac,  mithridate,  Armenian  bold  terrafigll- 
lata,  &c. 

In  his  regular  practice  (for  the  abov«  muft  be  accounted  quackery)  he  advifes 
bleeding  within  the  firft  twelve,  or  at  molt  twenty-four,  hours  ;  fuch  as  were 
bled  afterwards  he  fays  died.  If  performed  in  feven  or  eight  hours  after  the 
commencement  of  the  difeafe  the  cure  went  on  the  better.  Where  bleeding 
was  inadvifable  he<ifed  cupping  with  fcarifications,  finifhing  the  cure  with 
fweating  and  cordials.  He  remarks  that  where  black  tumours  or  efchars,  len- 
til mapedi  appeared,  the  difeafe  always  proved  mortal»  without  a  fingle  eijt- 
ception.  Theie  were  fmall.  like  a  grain  of  black  pepper»  and  therefore  called 
by  the  vulgar  ptppercwrn  ;  undoubtedly  the  tokens  of  Dr.  Hodges. 

4  Hildanus,  allb  a  refpec^able  writer»  has  an  high  opinion  of  iffues  as  a 
preventive.  He  fays  he  never  knew  but  one  or  two  (and  thole  of  a  very  bad 
habit  of  body)  who  had  iilues  in  their  legs  and  aims  that  periihed  in  the 
plague,  and  fays  that  he  has  known  its  efficacy  as  a  preventive  not  only  in 
himfelf  but  many  others.  He  fays  he  kept  two  ifiues  in  his  own  body,  one 
in  the  left  arm,  the  other  in  the  right  leg.  (See  above  p.  33.9-)  To  the  fame 
purpofe  Mercurialis  relates  that  he  never  knew  but  one,  and  he  was  a  prieftt 
who  died  of  the  plague  having  an  ilfue  He  fays  allb  that  he  had  inquired 
of  many  other  phylicians,  who  all  gave  a  limilar  teflimony  According  to 
him,  in  the  plague  at  Laufanne,  all  who  were  attacked  by  vomiting  or  loofe- 
nefs,  and  almoft  all  who  were  bled,  fell  viciims  to  the  difeafe. 

As  preventives  he  advifes  amulets  made  up  of  arfenic»  powder  of  toatft,  and 
other  things.  Tiicfe  are  to  be  hanged  round  the  neck  in  times  of  plague,  and 
are  undoubtedly  of  great  virtue  (maximum  ad  prafervatUntm  -vim  bttberf^  non 
fft  quod  dut>i tct !}  This  remedy  he  fays  he  had  from  his  preceptor  Gcfmas 
Slotanutt  a  very  celebrated  iurgeon. 

Brine  of  pork  is  another  preventive,  which  he  never  tried  himfelf,  but  aflcs 
Sennertus  about  it.  Jt  was  recommended  to  Hildanus  by  a  lawyer  of  his 
acquaintance  The  brine  is  firft  to  be  boiled  in  a  kettle*  and  well  fcimmed, 

till 


A   TREATISE   ON 

That  a  free  perfpiration  is  the  natural  cure  of  the 
plague,  feems  to  be  allowed  by  almoft  all  writers  of  credit. 
Dr.  Ruflel  fays,  "  Of  all  excretions,  that  by  the  ikin 
*'  would  feem  to  be  the  moil  materially  important  in' 
"  the  plague.  Where  the  fkin  remains  perpetually  dry, 
*'  or  where  fhort  and  precipitate  fweats  are  attended 
"  with  no  favourable  alteration,  danger  is  always  to  be 
"  apprehended.  On  the  other  hand,  fweats,  at  certain 

"  period* 

till  it  becomes  clear,  poured  into  earthen  vefiels,  and  kept  fhut  up  from  the  air 
for  a  twelvemonth ;  after  which  it  was  fit  for  ufe.  A  draught  of  this  was 
given  to  people  infeded  with  plague,  and  operated  by  fweat,  ttool  or  vomitt 
or  perhaps  both  by  vomit  and  Itool.  The  patient  was  to  abftain  from  drink 
for  fosne  hours  after.  The  brine  of  anchovies  is  recommended  by  Sam.  For- 
inius,  as  ufeful  in  the  plague  at  Montpelierin  1630. 

3.  The  fame  author  (Formius)  tells  us  of  a  mafi  and  his  wife  and  wife's 
iifter,  in  Montpelier,  who,  being  taken  with  the  plague,  fwalloWed  a  foludort 
of  their  own  excrements  in  urine,  jlrained  through   «  linen  el»th,  and  thus  got 
clear  of  the  diftemper.     It  produced  exceffive  vomiting  and  purging.     Dr. 
"Ruffel  mentions  one  of  his  patients,  who,  he  fufpeded,  had  got  a  dole  of  be- 
zoar  in  urine. 

4.  Johannes  Helmontius  fays,  that  to  his  certain  knowledge  (me  confcio) 
llibtrnus  Butlerus  cured  fome  thoufands  of  the  plague,  at  London  ;  though 
unhappily  our  author  got  only  part  of  the  fecret,  and  which  is  to  the  following 
purpofe.     "  Reordered  me  to  fufpend  by  the  legs  before  the  fire,  a  large  toad 
o*  taken  in  the  afternoon  in  the  month  of  June  9  putting  below  him  a  cake  of 

•  «  yellow  wax.      At   lengtk,  after  three  days  fufpenfion,  the  toad  vomited 

•  «  earth,  and  fome  walking  Infffts  (iniedis  ambulantes)  viz.  files  with  fhining 
•«  wings  of  a  greenilh  colour,    as  if  gilt :  the  toad  died  immediately  after  this 
«»  evacuation,  nor  did  it  take  placet    notwithflanding  his  fufpenfion   till  the 
•*  third  day.     He  (Butlerus)  then  told  me  that  I  had  medicine  enough  for  cur- 
**  in%ferty  iboufand  people  infeded  with  the  plague,  and  promifed  to  (how  me 
•*  the  rnyftery  of  the  matter  (rei  cardinem)  but  oeiag  iuddenly  fent  into  ba- 
««  nifhment  he  departed."     The  beft  part  of  the  lerret  being  thus  loft,  it  is 
needlefs  to  trouble  the  reader  with  any  further  account  of  experiments  made 
\vith  other  toads  roafted  alive,  powdered  and  made  up  into  troches,  &c.  pre- 
fuming  that  thefe  could  not  equal  the  value  of  the  original  receipt.     I  proceed 
therefore, 

5.  To  the  antidote  of  the  celebrated  Avenzoar,  who  drove  avvay  the  plague 
by  thefmeJl  of  the  urine  of  an  be  goat  ;  and  MereuriaJis  fays  that  in  th'ehouie 
ot  a  moft   reverend   canon  in  Hungary,  he  faw  a  large  he  goat  kept  for  this 
purpofe. 

6.  From  fuch  horribly  difgufting  remedies  we  certainly  turn  with  pleafur* 
to  the  elegant  tablets  prepared  fo:  tne  Emperor  Maximilian  II.     Thefe  were 
compoied  of  Armenian  bole?  prepared  pearl,  prepared  coral,  prepared  emeralds, 
prepared  jacind,  gold-leaves  (ingredients  in  a  medical  view  equally  efficaciout 
with  chalk  or  oyfter  Ihells)  along  with  a  little  ambergreafe  and  fome  other  in- 
gredients of  little  value,  as  medicines,  and  made  into  tab-lets  with  conferve  of 

roles. It  is  needlefs  to  fpend   time  in  commenting  on  fuch  ridiculous 

remedies;  fuffice  it  to   fay,  that  the  intention  of  all  rational  pradtice  both 
ancient  and  modern  has  been  to  effed  a  cure  by  fweating.     From  the  inftance 
related  by  Sydenham,  as  well  as  that  of  Dr.  Power  above  mentioned,  it  feemsy 
that  if  theexad  time  in  which  the  dileafe  begins  could  be  known,  it  might  b<5 
carried  off  by  profufe  blood-letting  ;    but  as  this  for  the  melt  part  cannot  be 
difcovered,  it  is  certainly  better  to  wait,  even  though  the  event  ftiould  net 
prove  favourable,  than  to  run  the  rifle  of  killing  the  patient  iiiftantly  by  aa 
ignorant  etfoit  to  fave  him. 


PLAGUJE,  369 

f*  periods  of  the  difeafe,  appeared  clearly  critical  in  a 
"  greater  or  lefs  degree.  They  were  followed  by  a 
**  manifeft  alteration  for  the  better,  and  by  their  repeti- 
*$  tion  the  fever  was- carried  entirely  off,  or  reduced  to 
"  fymptomatic  exacerbations,  feemingly  dependent  on 
"  the  eruptions."  He  adds,  that  he  never  obferved 
blood  exude  through  the  pores,  nor  did  he  obferve  the 
fweat  to  be  remarkably  offenfive  ;  or  in  any  degree  fo 
remarkable  as  in  fome  eruptive  fevers,  particularly  in  the 
fmall-pox  before  eruption,  Dr.  Hodges,  however,  fays 
that  in  the  plague  of  London  fweats  were  fometimes  ex- 
tremely acrid  and  foetid  ;  and  that  they  were  met  with 
of  various  colours,  fuch  as  purple,  green,  black,  or  blood- 
coloured.  'Sometimes  it  was  cold,  though  the  patient 
Was  tormented  with  intolerable  inward  heat  and  drought ; 
and  would  continue  even  after  death  ;  but  he  was  of 
opinion  that  fweat  is  the  natural  crifis  of  the  dif- 
temper. 

Befides  thofe  fymptoms  of  the  plague  which  have  been 
enumerated,  there  are  others,  particularly  haemorrhages 
and  convulfions,  with  which  it  is  fometimes  attended. 
Thefe  it  has  in  common  with  the  yellow  -fever,  and 
tnerefore  are  confidered  in  the  fecond  part  of  the  work* 
I  now  conclude  this  part  with  a  fhort  retrofpect  of  the 
principal  fads  which  to  me  feem  to  be  the  refult  of  the 
inveftigation.  i.  That  the  plague  is  of  an  unknown 
(I  believe  it  of  divine)  original.  2.  That  in  the  coun- 
tries on  which  it  firft  was  fent,  it  ftill  remains,  and  from 
them  has  always  been  propagated  to  others,  without  a  fin- 
gle  well  attefted  inftance  to  the  contrary.  3.  That  the 
means  by  which  the  diftemper  ufually  has  been  propagated 
are  war  and  commerce.  4.  That  the  difeafe  differs  from  all 
others  in  having  a  more  violent  tendency  to  inflamma- 
tion, infomuch  that  it  approaches  to  adtual  accenfion  ; 
nay,  that  the  extraordinary  inftances  of  fpontaneous 
burning  we  read  of  are  to  be  accounted  only  the 
higheft  degree  of  this  difeafe.  5.  That  the  immediate 
or  proximate  caufe  of  the  plague  is  a  tendency  in  the 
blood  and  other  fluids  to  difcharge  upon  certain  parts 
the  latent  heat  they  contain,  in  fuch  quantity  as  to  de- 

B  b  b  ftroy 


370  A   TREATISE   ON 

ftroy  thefe  parts  entirely,  and  to  convert  them  into  s 
kind  of  coaly  fubftance.  6.  That  this  tendency  de- 
pends on  a  certain  inexplicable  aftion  of  the  external 
atrnofphere,  particularly  of  the  elementary  fire  contained 
in  it,,  and  of  which  it  principally  confifts.*  7.  The  ap- 
proach of  a  plague  cannot  be  foretold,  either  from  the 
eonftitution  of  the  atmofphere,  earthquakes,  ftorms,  or 
any  other  natural  phenomena.  8.  The  plague  is  an 
eruptive  difeafe,  and  it  is  known  to  be  fo  by  the  certain 
death  of  all  in  whom  eruptions  do  not  appear ;  a  tenden- 
cy to  eruption  being  always  obferved  where  life  remained 
long  enough.  9.  The  contagion  of  the  plague  diffufes 
itfelf  from  a  fmall  fpace  all  around,  leffening  in  violence 
the  farther  it  is  diffufed.  In  its  moft  concentrated  (late  it 
hath  proved  invincible  by  medicine  ;  in  its  mild  ftate  it 
requires  none  ;-f  fo  that  in  the  plague  the  medical  powers 
are  found  of  lets  avail  than  in  any  other  acute  diftemper. 
10.  The  natural  cure  of  the  plague  is  by  perfpiration  or 
fweat,  and  this  perhaps  is  the  only  evacuation  which 
ought  to  be  kept  in  view,  as  having  a  falutary  tendency, 
by  thofe  who  attend  the  iick.  \ 

*  Thefe  two  iaft  conelufions  (though  I  believe  them  myfelf)  are  propofetf 
only  as  probable  conjedures,  which  as  yet  1  fee  nothing  to  contradict. 

t  See  p.  282. 

%  The  operation  of  oil  fo  much  recommended  by  Mr.  Baldwin  is  faid  to  b$ 
l>y  producing  fweat.    (See  above  p.  341 .) 


END  OF  THE  FIRS<T  PART, 


PART 


A 

TREATISE 

ON  THE 

Plague  and  Yellow  Fever. 

PART    SECOND. 

Of  the  Yellow  Fever. 


WE  now  come  to  treat  of  a  difeafe,  Jefs  fatal  indeed 
than  the  Afiatic  plague,  but  yet  fo  deadly  in  its  nature 
in  the  Weftern  World,  that  it  has  of  late  been  con- 
founded with  the  former,,  and  attempts  made  to  prove 
that  they  are  both  to  be  considered  only  as  degrees 
of  the  fame  difeafe,  and  that  both  have  been  re- 
corded by  hiftorians  indifcriminately  under  the  com- 
mon appellation  of  plague  or  peftilence.  To  invefti- 
gate  this  matter  candidly,  and  to  (how  that  there  is 
a  real  and  eflential  difference  between  the  two,  as 
far  as  we  can  credit  tefli monies  drawn  from  the  moft 
refpe&able  writers,  fhall  be  the  work  of  the  follow-, 
ing  part  of  this  treatife. 


SECTION    I. 

Hi/lory  of  the  Yellow  Fever. 

THE  diftemper  now  under  consideration  has  been 
commonly  diftinguifhed  by  two  different  names; 
one  of  which  is  the   Yellow  Fever,  the  other  the  Black 
Vomit.     Both  of  thefe  are  taken  from  fymptoms  fo  re- 
markable 


A    TREATISE   ON 

markable  (though  not  occurring  in  every  cafe)  that, 
had  the  difeafe  exifted  in  ancient  times,  we  can  fcarce 
think  but  fome  of  the  hiftorians  of  antiquity  would  have 
taken  notice  th^t  in  fucb  a  plague  thofe  who  died  gene- 
rally became  yellow,  or  that  they  had  a  continual  vo- 
miting, of  black  matter,  which  could  not  be  flopped. 
Black  or  bilious  vomitings  are  indeed  mentioned,  though 
not  as  the  principal  fymptom,  but  the  yellow  cqlour  is 
not  once  taken  notice  of.  Dr.  Hodges  indeed  men? 
tions  a  {ingle  inftance  of  a  patient  who  became  all  over 
of  agreen  colour ;  but  as  a  change  of  colour  is  not  taken 
notice  of  in  the  plague  as  a  general  fymptom,  either  by 
him  or  by  any  other  writer,  we  muft  conclude  that  this 
diftemper  (the  yellow  fever)  has  been  obferved  only  in 
modern  times. 

When  Columbus  firft  vifited  the  Weft  India  iflands, 

we  hear  nothing  of  his  having  found  fuch  a  difeafe  ex- 

ifting  there ;    nor  does  it   appear  that    it  was  known. 

among  the  many  Spanifh   adventurers  who  fuccceded 

him,   and  who   fubdued  fuel)  imrnenfe  tracts  on   the 

Southern  Continent.     Soon  after  the  fettlemerit  of  fome 

of  the  Weft  India  iflands,  however,  by  other  European 

nations,   this   difeafe  began    to   rnake    its   appearance, 

though  at  what  time  is  ftill   uncertain.     Dr.  Hillary 

fays,  that,  "  as  we  have  no  accounts  of  this  difeafe  in  the 

ancients,  nor  even  in  the  Arabian  writers,  who  lived  and 

pracYifed  in  the  hot  climate,  we  muft  give  \tfome  name ;" 

and  he  calls  it  the  putrid  bilious  fever.     "  From  the  beft 

41  and  moft  authentic  account  (adds  he)  that  I  can  ob- 

"  tain,  as  alfo  from  the  nature  and  fymptoms  of  the 

"  difeafe,  it  appears  to  be  a  difeafe  that  is  indigenous  * 

"  to  the  Weft  India  ifiands  and  the  continent  of  Ame- 

"  rica  which   is  fituatec}  between  the   tropics,  and  moft 

i(  probably  to  all  other  countries  within  the  torrid  zone. 

"  But  I  cannot  conceive  wjiat  were  the  motives  which 

"  induced  Dr.  Warren  to  think  that  this  fever  was  firft 

"  brought  from  Paleftine  to  Marfeilles,  and  from  thence 

"  to  Martinique,  and  fo  to  Barbadoes,  about  thirty-feven 

"  years  fince  (1721  or  1722.)     A  better  inquiry  woulc} 

"  have 

*  Naturally  belonging  to  the  climate. 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER.  373 

ave  informed  him,  that  this  fever  had  frequently  ap^ 
f<  peared,  in  this  and  the  other  Weft  India  iflands,  many 
"  years  before  :  for  feveral  judicious  pra&itioners,  who 
f<  were  then,  and  are  now,  living  here,  whofe  bufmefs 
"  was,  vifiting  the  fick  the  greateft  part  of  their  life 
"  time,  fome  of  them  alrnoft  eighty  years  of  age,  remem- 
"  ber  to  have  feen  this  fever  frequently  in  this  ifland, 
"  not  only  many  years  before  that  time,  but  many  years 
"  before  that  learned  gentleman  came  to  it." 

To  the  fame  purpofe  Dr.  Mofely  fays,  "  Warren, 
<l  though  he  lived  at  Barbadoes  in  1 739,  fuppofes  it  never 
"  appeared  in  that  ifland  till  about  the  year  1721,  and 
<c  that  it  was  then  brought  frorrr Martinique  in  the  Lynn 
"  man  of  war.  He  fays  the  fecond  appearance  of  it 
f£  there  was  in  1733,  and  that  it  then  came  alfo  from 

'  Martinique.  He  undertakes  to  (how,  that  it  is  a 
"  difeafe  of  Afiatic  extract ;  and  fays,  that  a  Provencals 
"  fleet  arrived  at  Port  St.  Pierre  in  Martinique,  from 
"  Marfeilles,  on  board  which  were  feveral  bales  of  Le- 
:c  vant  goods  which  were  taken  in  at  Marfeilles  from  a 
"  fhip  juft  arrived  from  St.  Jean  D'Acre  (probably  the 
"  Ptolemais  of  the  ancients.)  Upon  opening  thefe  bales 
"  of  goods  at  Port  St.  Pierre,  this  diftemper  immediately 
"  (hewed  itfelf ;  many  of  the  people  were  inftantly  feiz- 
:l  ed,  fome  died  almoft  fuddenly,  others  in  a  few  days, 

*  and  fome  lingered  longer  ;  and  the  contagion,  ftill 
"  fpreading,  made  great  havock  at  the  beginning.  He 
"  fays  he  had  this  account  from  Mr.  Nelfon,  an  Englif}^ 
"  furgeon,  who  was  feized  with  the  difeafe  at  Marti* 
"  nique,  and  died  of  it  a  few  days  after  his  arrival  at  Bar- 
*c  badoes.  He  fays,  it  is  very  probable  that  the  fame 
"  fever,  or  one  of  very  near  refemblance  and  affinity, 

5  may  firft  have  been  carried  among  the  American  Spa- 
:£  niards  (among  whom  it  is  now  endemic)  in  fomewhat 
:e  a  like  manner  ;  and  that  poflibly  fome  peculiar  quali- 

'  ties  in  the  air  and  climate  might  have  foftered  and 
**  maintained  it  there  ever  fince." 

Dr.  Mofely  at  once  concludes  the  whole  of  this  ac- 
count to  be  fabulous,  but  whether  fabricated  by  Dr. 
Warren  or  the  fjur&eon,  he  does  not  fay.  He  then  ap- 

peatf 


374  A    TREATISE    ON 

peals  to  Dr.  Towne,  who  wrote  before  Warren,  in 
1776,  but  takes  no  notice  of  this  chimerical  origin  of  the 
yellow  fever,  but  confiders  it  as  an  endemical  difeafe  in 
the  Weft  Indies.  Hillary's  opinion  already  given  is  alfo 
quoted. 

The  next  evidence  is  that  of  Mr.  Hughes,  who,  though 
not  a  medical  man,  has  written  on  the  firft  appearance 
of  the  yellow  fever  in  Barbadoes  in  the  following  terms  j 
pr.  Gamble  remembers  that  it  was  very  "  fatal  here  in 
*'  the  year  169  i,  and  that  it  was  then  called  the  new  dif- 
4<  temper,  and  afterwards  Kendalls  fever,  the  pe/ti/entiat  fe~ 
*c  ver,  and  the  bilious  fever.  The  fame  fymptoms  did 
*6  not  always  appear  in  all  patients,  nor  alike  in  every 
*c  year  when  it  vifited  us.  It  is  moft  commonly  rife  and 
"  fatal  in  May,  June,  July  and  Auguft,  and  then  moftly 
*c  among  ftrangers  ;  though  a  great  many  of  the  inhabi- 
cv  tants,  in  the  year  1696,  died  of  it  j  and  a  great  many 
^  at  different  periods  fince." 

As  to  the  firft  appearance  of  the  difeafe  in  the  Weft 
India  iflands  we  have  no  accounts  which  have  been 
deemed  fuffidently  authentic,  though  indeed  it  muft  be 
ponfeffed  that  the  doubts  feem  to  be  derived  as  much 
from  an  attachment  to  theory  as  to  the  inveftigation  of 
truth.  st  The  endemial  caufus,  or  yellow  fever,  (favs  Dr. 
"  Mofely)  which  is  the  terror  of  Europeans  newly  arri- 
*fc  ved  in  the  Weft  Indies,  is  called  by  the  French  la  maladi® 
*6  de  Siam.  Monfieur  Pouppe  Defportes,  who  practifed 
"  phyfic  at  St.  Dominique  ftom  1732  to  1748, and  who 
^  bad  more  experience,  and  has  written  from  better  in-* 
ic  formation  on  the  difeafes  of  that  colony,  than  any  of 
*£  his  countrymen,  fays  that  this  fever  was  fo  called  from 
^  its  being  firft  taken  notice  of  in  the  iiland  of  Mir- 
*c  tinique  at  a  time  when  forne  vefiels  were  there  froin 
*£  Siam.  This  account,  though  probably  true  enough 
"  as  to  the  time  of  its  being  firft  obferved  in  the  French 
4C  colonies,  is  extremely  incorrecl:  in  other  refpects  :  for 
ic  M.  Dcfportes  has  not  only  admitted  a  fuppofition  that 
•*•  the  difeafe  originated  among  thefe  Eaft  Indian  ma- 
^  riners,  but  calls  it  peftilential,  and  fays  that  the  Euro- 
^  peans  are  almoft  thq  only  vidlims  to  it. 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER.  375 

"  The  generality  of  the  French  writers  fay  that  it  was 

*  brought   directly  from  Siam,  in  a  merchant  (hip,  and 
"  communicated  to  the  people  of  Martinique,  whence 
"  the  contagion  was  carried  to  St.  Dominique,  but  that 
"  failors  were  the  only  people  attacked  by  it,  whence  it 
"  was  called  lafievre  matelotte" 

This  account  feems  to  carry  no  improbability  in  it  5 
neverthelefs  Dr.  Mofely  rejects  it  upon  grounds  that  are 
very  far  from  being  indifputable.  "  The  French  writ- 

*  ers  (fays  he)  have  not  been  at  the  trouble  to  confider 
"  that  a  difeafe  brought  from  Siam  in  the  Eaft  Indies,  in 
"  a  (imilar  latitude  to  the  Weft  India  iflands,  would  be 
"  moft  likely  to  affect  the  natives,  living  in  a  climate 
4*  fimilar  to  that  in  which  the  difeafe  originated,  rather 
"  than  the  Europeans  of  fo  different  a  temperament  of 
"  body."     But  this  argument  would  prove  too  much  ; 
for  if.  the  difeafe  would  be  moft  likely  to  affecl:  the  natives 
in  a  climate  Jimllar  to  that  in  which  the  difeafe  origi- 
nated, furely  it  would  be  ftill  more  likely  to  attack  the 
natives  in  that  very  climate  in  which  the  difeafe  did  ori- 
ginate, and  that  Europeans  would  be  free.     But  the  very 
reverfe  is  the  cafe.     The  difeafe,  according  to  Dr.  Mofe- 
ley  himfelf,  originates  in  the  Weft  Indies  ;  and  yet  Eu- 
ropeans, especially  thofe  newly  arrived,  are  particularly 
objects  of  its  vengeance. 

"  But  (adds  our  author)  the  fact  is,  that  "this  dif- 
**  eafe  never  attacks  either  white  or  black  natives  of  hot 
"  climates ;  neither  was  it  brought  from  Siam  5  and 
<c  though  it  is  poflible,  from  the  heat  of  the  climate,  that 
4C  it  may  frequently  appear  there,  or  in  any  other  tro~ 
<c  pica!  country  (though  BARRERE  fays  it  is  unknown 
€t  at  Cayenne]  no  hiftory  of  that  country  that  I  have  yet 
"  met  with  mentions  fuch  a  difeafe  ;  notwithftanding 
"  what  many  writers  have  boldly  advanced  to  the  con- 
"  trary." 

Here  it  is  evident  we  have  no  argument,  but  a  par-- 
cel  of  affertions,  the  firft  of  which  contradicts  what  he 
had  juft  before  quoted  from  Mr.  Hughes.  For  the 
latter  informs  us  that  in  1696  a  great  many  of  the 
inhabitants  died  of  it  as  well  as  (hangers.  His  not 

meeting 


376  A    TREATISE    ON 

meeting  with  it  in  any  hiftory  of  Siam  is  not  a  proof  of 
its  non-exiftence  in  the  country,,  neither  indeed  does  he 
himfelf  think  that  it  is  fo,  as  he  tells  us  that  it  may  poffi- 
bly  appear  there,  or  in  any  other  tropical  country. 

In  Sauvages's  Nofology  we  find  the  plague  diftinguifhed 
Into  a  number  of  different  fpecies^  among  which  there  is 
one  called  the  plague  of  Siam.  This,  he  fays,  was  in  the 
year  1685  brought  from  Siam  to  Martinico,  in  the  (hip 
called  the  Orlflame.  This  feems  to  have  been  t\\e yellow 
fever,  and  the  fymptomsare  confidered  in  the  following 
fection.  This  date  agrees  exactly  with  what  Mr. 
Hughes  fays  in  the  place  above  quoted,  that  it  was  violent 
in  Barbadoes  in  the  year  1691,  when  it  went  by  the 
names  of  the  new  fever,  and  Kendafs  fever.  Both  thefe 
names  imply  that  the  difeafe  had  been  but  lately  known, 
and  that  it  was  by  no  means  a  native  of  the  climate. 
It  muft  either  have  been  imported  therefore  from  fome 
other  country,  or  it  muft  have  originated  in  confequence 
of  the  fettlement  of  fome  Europeans  in  a  climate  fo 
diffimilar  to  their  own,  while  fome  of  them  ftiJl  continued 
to  ramble  from  one  country  to  another,  occafionally  vifit- 
ing  all,  without  taking  up  their  refldence  in  any. 

Martinique  feems  to  have  been  the  firft  place  where 
this  diftemper  made  its  appearance  ;  and  from  thence 
it  feems  quickly  to  have  extended  itfelf  to  St.  Domin- 
go and  Barbadces.  Its  farther  progrefs,  however,  can- 
not be  traced,  nor  can  we  tell  exactly  what  time  it  firfl 
entered  the  continent.  Whether  the  true  plague  was 
ever  imported  into  the  Weftern  Continent  cannot  at 
prefent  be  afcertained,  neither  can  we  tell  what  difeafes 
the  Indians  were  fubject  to  before  the  arrival  of  the  Eu- 
ropeans. The  Spaniards,  who  firft  arrived,  are  allowed1 
to  have  been  lefs  fubject  to  the  plague  than  other  na- 
tions,* but  they  were  quickly  followed  by  thofe  who  had 
no  fuch  exemption.  Sebaftian  Cabot  difcovered  the' 
North  American  Continent  for  Henry  VII  of  England, 
very  foon  after,  if  not  before  Columbus  difcovered  the' 
Southern  Continent  for  the  king  of  Spain.  This  was 
a  very  fufpieious  time  ;  for  Henry  VII  himfelf  had  in* 

troduced 

*  Seep'.  3*9* 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER.  377 

traduced  the  (Wearing  ficknefs  into  England  only  thir- 
teen years  before  ;*  and  in  thofe  days  the  plague  feems 
never  to  have  been  eradicated  ;  fo  that  it  is  by  no  means 
impoflible  that  thefe  firft  adventurers  might  have  com- 
municated to  the  Indians  with  whom  they  had  any 
communication,  the  feeds  of  difeafes  totally  unknown  to 
them  before.  Certain  it  is;  that  the  North  American 
Indians  were  fubjecl  to  epidemics  before  the  fettlement 
of  any  Englifh  colonies  among  them.  Hutchinfon  in 
his  Hiftory  of  Maflachufetts  takes  notice  of  the  Indians 
having  been  greatly  weakened  by  an  epidemic,  which 
was  attributed  to  an  unfavourable  feafon,  in  confequence 
of  which  they  were  obliged  to  feed  upon  unripe  fquafhes, 
fruits,  &c.  We  know  not  the  nature  of  the  diftemper, 
though*  from  the  circumftance  juft  mentioned,  we 
may  not  unreafonably  conjecture  it  to  have  been  of  the 
peftilential  kind.  That  epidemics  ftill  continue  among 
thefe  people  we  alfo  know  from  the  teftimony  of  Capt. 
Carver,  who  found  one  of  their  towns  deferted,  and  the 
inhabitants  fied  into  the  woods,  on  account  of  an  epide- 
mic diforder  j  but  what  the  nature  of  it  was  he  does  not 
inform  us.-}-  Mr« 

*  See  p.  17. 


•f  In  Belknap's  Biography  we  have  a  more  particular  account  of  this 
lence,  as  it  is  called*  and  which,  if  the  relations  there  given  are  to  be  credited* 
certainly  determines  the  difeafe  in  queftion  to  have  been  the  yellow  fever. 
The  account  is  to  the  following  purpofe  :  Lord  Arundel,  of  Wardour,  had 
employed  a  captain  Weymouth  to  fearch  for  a  N.  W.  paffage  to  India.  Jrt 
this  he  failed,  but  falling  in  with  a  river,  fuppofed  to  be  either  the  Kennebeclc 
or  Penobfcot*  he  brought  from  thence  five  of  the  natives*  with  whom  he  land* 
ed  at  Plymouth  in  July  1605.  Three  of  the  Indians  were  taken  into  tho 
family  of  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  ;  and  from  thefe  many  particulars  were  ob- 
tained refpefting  their  country,  which  being  eagerly  attended  to  by  Gorges* 
he  formed  a  plan  of  advancing  his  fortune  by  a  thorough  difcovery  of  the 
country.  Two  veRels  were  accordingly  fitted  out  ;  one  of  which  failed*  but  tho 
other  brought  fuch  information  as  gave  encouragement  to  attempt  the  found- 
ing of  a  colony.  Two  of  the  natives  who  had  been  brought  to  England  were 
fent  back,  and  45  perfons  were  left  on  the  continent  to  begin  the  fettlement  ; 
but  thefe,  having  undergone  great  hardships,  quitted  the  place  in  1608.  Gor- 
ges, however  was  not  difcouraged.  He  fent  out  one  of  his  fervants,  by  name 
Richard  If'tnts^  and  fome  others,  whom  he  hired  to  ftay  in  the  country  all 
winter. 

••  Mr.  Vines  and  his  companions  were  received  by  the  Indians  with  great 
*«  hofpitality,  though  their'  refidence  among  them  was  rendered  hazardous  ; 
"  both  .by  a  war  which  raged  among  thenn  and  by  a  peftiience  which  accom- 
"«  panied  or  fucceeded  it.  • 

«  This  war  and*  peftiience  are  frequently  fpoken  of  by  the  hiftorians  of 
«»  New  England,  as  remarkable  events,  in  the  courfe  of  Providence,  which 

"  prepared 

Ccic 


'57?  A    TREATISE    ON 

Mr.  Webfter,  in  his  eighth  letter  to  Dr.  Carrie  orr 
the  lubject  of  peftilential  difeafes,  quotes  from  the 
Doctor's  letter  to  Mr.  Wynkoop,  of  October  ^th,  -1797, 
the  following  paflages :  "  Thomas  Story  and  Jofeph 
"  Gough  relate,  that  a  malignant  fever  prevailed  in 
'  Philadelphia  in  1699,  introduced  from  the  Weft 
"  India  iflands.  .  .  .  Dr.  Mitchill  afcribes  the  yellow 
"  fever  as  it  appeared  in  Virginia  in  1741  and  47  to 
"  fpecific  contagion,  and  mentions  that  it  had  been 
:c  twice  imported  into  Virginia  by  his  Majefty's  (hips  of 
"  war.  Dr.  Leamy  (Lining)  in  the  Phyfical  Eiiays  in 
'  Edinburgh,  informs  us,  that  the  yellow  fever  which 
"  has  prevailed  at  different  periods  at  Charlefton,  South 
fc  Carolina,  was  always  traced  to  fome  infected  perfon 
"  recently  from  the  Weft  Indies.  In  1741  it  was  in- 
•*'  troduced  by  acheft  of  wearing  apparel  which  had  be- 

"  longed 

*'  prepared  the  tvay  for  the  eftabliftiment  of  an  European  colony.     Concerning 
**  the  war,  we  know  nothing  more  than  this,  that  it  was  begun  by  the  Tar- 
**  ratenes,  a  nation  who  relided  eaftward  of  Penobfcot.     Thefe  formidable 
"•  •  people  furprifed  the  bafhaba,  or  chief  fachem,  at  his  head  quarters,  and  de- 
**  ftroyed  him  with  all  his  family;  upon  which  all  the  other  fachems  wh» 
••  were  fubordinate  to  him  quarrelled  among  themfelves  for  the  fovereignty  ; 
**  artd  in  thefe  difTenfions  many  of  them  as  well  as  of  their  unhappy  people 
perilled.     Of  what  particular  kind  the  peftilence  was,  we  have  no.  certain* 
information ;  but  it  ieems  to  have  been  a  diforder  peculiar  to  the  Indians, 
"**  for  Mr.  Vines  and  h»s  companions,  who  were  intimately  converfant  with 
1  them,  and  frequently  lodged  in  their  wigwams,  were  not  in  the  leaft  de* 
«  gree  affe&ed  by  it,  though  it  fwept  off  the  Indians  at  fuch  a  prodigious  rate 
-  *  that  the  living  were  not  able  to  bury  the  dead,  and  their  bones  were  found 
«  feveral  years  after,  lying  about  the  villages  where  they  had  refided.,    Tho 
«  extent  of  this  peftrlence  was  between  Penobfcot  in  the  eaft,  and  Narraganfet 
* in  the  weft.     Thefe  two  tribes  efoaped,  whilll  the  intermediate  people  wero 
«  wafted  and  deftroyed." 

This  diftemper  appears  to  have  raged  among  the  Indians  in  the  year  1616. 
The  following  particulars  are  further  given  in  Belfcnap's  Biography,  vol.  ii, 
p.  208  :  ««  Hitherto  they  (the  Englith  colonifts)  had  not  feen  any  of  the  na- 
«« tives  at  this  place.  The  mortal  peftilence  which  raged  through  the  country, 
««  four  years  before,  had  almoft  depopulated  it.  One  remarkable  circumftance 
«  attending  this  peftilence  was  not  known  till  after  this  fettlement  was  made. 
*<•  A  French  fhip  had  been  wrecked  o»  Cape  Cod.  The  men  were  faved,  with 
*«  their  provifions  and  goods.  The  natives  kept  their  eye  on  them*  tilt  they 
**  found  an  opportunity  to-  kill  all  but  three  or  four,  and  divide  their  goods. 
"  The  captives  were  fent  from  one  tribe  to  another,  as  Daves.  One  ot  them 
•«  learned  fo  much  of  their  language,  as  to  tell  them  that  God  was  angry  with 
<*  them  for  their  cruelty,  and  would  deftroy  them,  and  give  their  country  to 
««  another  people.  They  anfwered  that  they  were  too  many  for  God  to  kill'. 
*•  He  replied*  that  if  they  we«e  ever  fo  raanyi  God  had  ma«y  ways  to  kill 

"  them* 

*  <*  The  Pawkunnawkutts  were  a  great  people  heretofore.  They  lived  to 
«  the  caft  and  northeaft  of  the  NarraganfittSi  and  their  chief  fachem  held  do- 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER;  379 

F  longed  to  a  perfon  who  died  of  it  from  Barbadoes." 
Thefe  quotations  are  made  by  Mr.  Webfter  with  a 
view  to  difpute  the  contagious  nature  of  the  difeafe, 
Here  they  are  introduced  only  to  (how  if  poflible  the 
time  that  the  difeafe  firft  entered  the  United  States ; 
and  the  introduction  of  it  into  Philadelphia  in  1,699 
(though  we  are  not  fureif  even  this  was  its  firft -appear- 
ance, flill  correfponds  extremely  well  with  the  date  of  its 
introduction  into  Martinique  mentioned  by  Sauvages. 
Dr.  Lining  fays  it  had  been  four  times  epidemic  in 
Charlefton  before  the  time  that  he  wrote;  viz.  in  173  z> 
1739,  1745^  and  1748.  Hence  we  may  conclude,  that 
this  fever,  on  the  northern  part  of  the  continent  of 
America,  has  been  nearly  coeval  with  the  fettlement  of 
the  Britifh  colonies  there;  for  we  cannot  fuppofe  that 
we  have  accounts  of  the  very  firft  time  that  it  made  its 

appearance 

"  them,  of  which  they  were  then  ignorant.  When  the  peftilence  came  among 
**  them  (a  new  dlfeafe^  probably  the  yellow  fever)  they  remembered  the 
««  Frenchman's  words ;  and  when  the  Plymouth  iettlers  arrived  at  Cape  Cod» 
"  the  few  furvivors  imagined  that  the  other  part  of  his  prediction  would  foort 
««  be  accomplished.  Soon  after  their  arrival,  the  Indian  priefts  or  powows 
.**  convened,  and  performed  their  incantations  in  a  dark  fwamp  three  days 
r<  fucceflively,  with  a,  view  to  curfe  and  deftroy  the  new  comers.  Had  they 
<*  known  the  mortality  which  raged  among  them,  they  would  doubtlefs  have 
•«  rejoiced  in  the  fuccefs  of  their  endeavours,  and  might  very  eafily  have  taker* 
««  advantage  of  their  weaknefs  to  exterminate  them.  But  none  of  them  were 
"  feen  till  after  the  licknefs  had  abated  ;  though  fome  tools,  which  had  beea 
**  left  in  the  woods,  were  miffing,  which  they  had  ilolen  ia  the  night," 

««  minion  over  divers  other  petty  fagamores ;  as  the  fagamores  uppn  the  ifland 
««  of  Nantuckett,  and  Nope,  or  Martha's  Vineyard,  of  Nawfett,  of  Manna- 
*<  moyk,  of  Sawkattukett,  Nobfquafitt,  Matakees,  and  feveral  others,  and 
«'  fome  of  the  Nipmucks.  Their  country,  for  the  moft  part,  falls  within 
•*  the  jurifdidtion  of  New  Plymouth  colony.  This  people  were  a  potent  na- 
'« tion  in  former  times,  and  could  raife,  as  the  moft  credible  and  ancient  In- 
"  diaus  affirm,  about  three  thoufand  men-  They  held  war  with  the  Narra- 
f«  ganfitts,  and  often  joined  the  Manachufetts  as  friends  and  confederates 
.«»  againft  the  Narraganfitts.  This  nation,  a  very  great  number  of  them,  were 
*' iwept away  by  an  epidemical  and  unwonted  foknefs,  an.  i6iz  and  1613* 
.««  about  feven  or  eight  years  before  the  Englifh  firft  arrived  in  thofe  parts  to 
••  fettle  the  colony  of  New  Plymouth.  Thereby  Divine  Providence  made  way 
*«  for  the  quiet  and  peaceable  fettlemcnt  of  the  Englifh  in  thofe  nations* 
•«  What  this  difeafe  was,  that  fo  generally  and  mortally  fwept  away,  not  only 
«« thefe  but  other  Indians,  their  neighbours,  I  cannot  well  learn.  Doubtlefs 
««  it  was  fome  peftilential  difeafe.  |  have  dilcourfed  with  fome  old  Indians* 
»« that  were  then  youths>  who  fay,  that  tke  bodies  all  over  were  exceeding  yel- 
*t  Jo-u>  (defcribing  it  by  a  yellow  garment  they  Ihowed  me)  both  before  they 
••  died,  and  afterward. 

"  The  Maffachufetts,  being  the  next  great  people  northward,  inhabited 
«»  principally  about  that  place  in  Maliachufetts  bay,  where  the  body  of  the 
.»  £ng!itfi  now  dwell.  Thefe  were  a  numerous  and  great  people.  Their  chief 

«« ftchens 


A   TREATISE   ON 

appearance  any  where.  Numbers  of  individuals  would 
probably  be  affedted  with  it,  and  their  cafes  pafs  unnoti- 
ced,  till  the  general  malady  attracted  the  public  atten- 
tion. 

In  the  Spanifh  dominions  it  feems  to  hava  been  other- 
ttife.  Dr.  Mofeley  quotes  Don  Ulloa  faying  that  «c:th* 
"  vamito  prieto,  or  black  vomit,  was  unknown  at  Cartha- 
^  gena,  and  all  along  the  coaft,  till  the  years  1 729  and 
*c  1730,  In  1729  Don  Domingo  Juftiniani,  commodore 
'*  of  the  guarda  coftas,  loft  fo  conliderable  a  part  of  his 
*c  (hips'  companies  at  Santa  Martha,  that  the  furvivors 
^  were  ftruck  with  aftonifhment  and  horror  at  the 
"  havock  made  among  their  comrades.  In  1730,  when 
rt  the  galleons  under  Don  Manuel  Lopez  Pintado  came 
a  to  Carthagena,  the  feamen  were  feizcd  with  the  fanae 
*c  dreadful  mortality's  and  fo  fudden  were  the  attacks  cf 

"  the 

**  faehem  held  dominion  over  many  other  petty  governors  ;  as  thofe  of  Wee- 
**  chagafkas,  Neponfitt,  Punkapaog,  NpnantUm,  N-alhavvay,  fome  of  tht 
84  Nipmuck  people,  as  far  as  Pocowitacuke,  as  the  old  men  of  MaiTachufettS 
**  affirmed.  This  people  couldi  in  former  times*  arm  for  war  about  threfc 
«*  thoufaad  men,  as  the  old  Indians  declare.  They  were  hi  hoftiiity  very  of- 
**  ten  with  the  Narraganfitts,  but  held  amity  for  the  moft  part  with  the  Paw- 
111  kunnawcutts,  who  lived  on  the  fouth  border,  and  with  the  Pawtucketts,  who 
4*  inhabited  on  their  north  and  nortfaeaft  limits.  In  an.  1611  and  i6rj  thefe 
"  people  were  alfo  forely  fmitten  by  the  hand  of  God  with  the  fame  Miteafe 
41  before  mentioned  :  which  deftroyed  the  moft  of  them,  and  made  room  for 
**  the  Englifh  people  of  Mallachufetts  colony,  which  people  this  country,  and 
••  the  next  called  Pawtuckett.  There  are  not  of  this  people  left  at  this  day 
«l  above  three  hundred  men>  befides  women  and  children. 

"  Pawtucfcett  is  the  fifth  and  laft  great  fachemfnip  of  Indians.  Their  coun- 
tl  try  lieth  north  and  northeaft  from  the  MaflTachufetts,  whole  dominion  reach- 
•*  eth  fo  far  as  the  Englhh  jnrifdicliori,^or  colony  of  the  Maflachufetts,  doth 
*«  now  extend,  and  had  under  them  feveral  other  fmaller  fagamores;  as  the 
««  Pennakoisks,  Agawomes,  NaamkeekSi  Pafcatawayes,  Accomintas,  and  others. 
*«  They  were  alfo  a  confid'erable  people  heretofore,  about  three  thoufand  men» 
«'  and  held  amity  with  the  people  of  Maflachufetts.  But  thefe  alfo  were  al- 
««  moft  totally  deftroyed  by  the  great  ficknefs  before  mentioned  ;  fo  that  at 
*•  this  day  they  are  not  above  two  hundred  and  fifty  men,  befides  women  and 
•«  children.  This  country  is  now  inhabited  by  the  English  uader  the  govern- 
«•  rnent  of  Ma^ichufetts."  (Gookin's  Hiftorical  Collections  of  the  Indians 
in  New  England.) 

The  following  was  communicated  to  Benjamin  Baflfet,  efq.  of  Chilmarkt 
by  Thomas  Cooper,  a  half  blooded  Indian,  of  Gay  Head,  aged  about  fixty 
years ;  and  which,  he  fays,  he  obtained  of  his  grandmother,  who,  to  ufe  his 
'own  expreflion,  was  a  ftout  girl  v/hen  the  English  came  to  the  ifland  :  "  Before 
««  the  Englifh  came  among  the  Indians,  there  were  two  diforders  of  which 
•«  tkey  generally  died,  viz.  the  confumption  and  the  yellow  fever.  The  latter 
•«  they  could  always  lay.  in  the  following  manner :  After  it  had  raged  and  fwep1* 
•«  off  a  number,  thofe  who  were  well,  met  to  lay  it.  The  rich,  that  is,  fuch 
«<  as  had  a  canoe,  (kins,  axes,  &c.  brought  them  ;  They  took  their  feat  in  a 
««  circle,  and  ail  the  poor  fat  around  without.  The  richeft  then  propofed  to 

<«  begu; 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER.  382 

"  the  difeafe,  that  perfons,  walking  about  one  day,  were 
'*  the  next  carried  U>  their  graves.  Unhappily,  after  all 
((  the  experiments  of  the  furgeons  of  the  galleons,  and 
"  phyftcians  of  the  country,  no  good  method  of  treat- 
"  ing  the  difeafe  has  been  difcovered  >  no  fpecifk  for 
ft  curing  it." 

This  fatal  difeafe,  however  common  in  the  fouthern 
and  warm  part  of  the  continent  of  America,  feems  not 
to  have  exerted  its  power  in  the  more  northern  and 
temperate  climates  till  the  year  1793.  Since  that  time 
its  ravages  have  beert  too  well  known  to  require  an 
enumeration  here.  To  defcribe  the  fymptoms,  inquire 
into  the  caufes,  and  the  means  of  prevention  and  cure, 
is  a  work  of  more  importance,  and  to  this  we  muft 
now  proceed. 

4  begin  to  lay  theficknefs;  and,  having  in  his  hand  fomeihtng  in  fhaperefem*- 
1  bling  his  canoe,  {kin,  or  whatever  his  riches  were,  he  threw  it  up  in  the  air  ; 

*  and  whoever  of  the  poor  without  could  take  it,  the  property  it  was  intended 

*  to  refemble  became  for  ever  transferred  to  him  or  her.     After  the  rich  had 
?  thus  given  away  all  their  nioveabJe  property  to  the  poor,  they  looked  out  the 
'  handfomeft  and  moft    fprightly  young  man  HI  the  affembly,  and  put  him 
1  into  an  "entire  new  wigwair,,  built  of  every    thing  new  for  that   purpofe. 

*  They  then  formed  into  two  files  at  a  fmall  diftance  from  each  other;    one 
1  (landing  in  the  fpace  at  eaeh  end  put  fire  to  the  bottom  of  the  wigwam  orj 
1  all  parts,  and  fell  to  finging  and  dancing      Prefently  the  youth  would  leapt 
«  out  of  the  flames,  and  fall  down  to  appearance  dead.     Him  they  convmitted 

*  to  the  care  of  five  virgins,  prepared  for  that  purpofe,  to  reftore  to  life  again. 
«  The  term  required  for  this  would  be  uncertain,  from  fix  to  f&rty-efght  hours, 
«  during  which  time  the  dance  muft  be  Kept  up.     When  he  was  reftored  he 

*  would  tell,  that  he  had  been  carried  in  a  large  thing  high  up  in  the  air,  where 
«  he  came  to  a  great  company  of  white  people,  with  whom  he  had  interceded, 
1  hajrd  to  have  the  diftefnper  laid,  and  generally,  after  much  perfuafion,  would 
«  obtain  a  promife,  or  anfwer  of  peace,   which  never  failed  of  laying  the 

JM  diftemper." 

The  following  is  extracted  from  Prince's  Chronological  Hiftory  of  Ne\v 
England,  p.  46  :  "  This  winter  (1617)  and  thefpring  enfuing,  a  great  plague 
«*  befals  the  natives  in  New  England,  which  wafteth  them  exceedingly;  and 
«*  fo  many  thoufands  of  them  die,  that  the  living  are  not  able  to  bury  them* 
««  and  their  fkulls  and  bones  remain  above  ground  at  the  places  of  their  habi~ 
«*  tations  for  feveral  years  after. 

««  By  Capt.  Dermer's  letter  of  Dec.  ay,  1619,  in  Purchas,  and  of  June  30* 
««  1620,  in  Gov.  Bradford,  compared  with  Gov.  Bradford's  own  account,  it 
f  •feems  that  the  Narraganfitts  in  the  weft,  and  Penobfcots  in  the  eaft,  efcapcd 
f «  this  plague,  or  that  it  raged  only  in  the  countries  lying  between  them*  -and 
*?  prepared' the  way  for  another  people." 


SECTION 


A   TREATISE    ON 


SECTION.     II. 

Symptoms  of  the  Yellow  Fever,  as  described  by  various  au- 
thors.— Comparison  between  them  and  thofe  of  the  Plague, 
with  an  inquiry  into  the  Caufes. — Hiftory  of  the  Diftemper 
as  it  has  appeared  in  various  parts  of  the  United  States 
fince  the  year  1 793. — A  difcuj/ion  of  the  quejlion  Whether 
the  Yellow  Fever  is  Contagious  or  not. 

OF  all.  thofe  who  have  attempted  to  give  an  account 
of.  this  fatal  difeafe,  none  appear  to  have  exceeded 
Dr.  Mofeley,  either  in  his  accuracy  in  enumeration,  of 
pcrfpicuity  in  defcription,  of  the  fymptoms.  According 
to  him  the  yellow  fever  is  a  fpecies  of  the  kaufos  of  Hippo- 
crates, Aretceus  and  Galen  j  that  is,  the  febris  ardens  or 
cdufus,  aggravated  by  climate,  incidental  only  to  thegrofs, 
inflammatory  and  plethoric  at  any  feafon  of  the  year,  to- 
tally different  from  the  remitting  bilious  fever  to  which 
all  habits  of  body  are  fubjecT:  in  hot  climates,  particular- 
ly after  rains,  and  in  the  fall  of  the  year.  .The  caufus, 
feldom  feen  in  the  temperate  climates  of  Europe,  never 
appears  there  with  the  violent  fymptoms  which  attend  it 
in  hot  climates.  <c  Whether  in  the  latitudes  (fays  he)  fo 
*c  mild  as  thofe  of  Spain,  Greece,  Italy  and  the  Archi- 
<s  pelagan  iflands,  the  caufus  has  ever  been  attended  with 
"  black  vomiting,  as  in  the  Weft-Indies,  I  cannot  tell. 
"  Lomrnius  mentions  the  vomiting  of  blood,  and  void* 
"  ing  black  liquid  ftools  and  blac£  urine.  Critical  and 
Ci  fymptomatical  yellownefs  of  the  {kin  in  the  caufus  are 
"  enumerated  by  Hippocrates  among  its  fymptoms.,  and 
•£  Lommius  mentions  the  danger  of  that  appearance  be- 
*'  fore  the  feventh  day.  The  affinity  of  the  fymptoms, 
5C  progrefs  and  termination  of  a  caufus  in  Europe  to 
cc  thofe  of  the  yellow  fever  in  the  Weft-Indies,  excepting 
%i  the  black  vomiting,  leaves  no  room  to  doubt  that  the 
£f  difference  of  climate  conftitutes  all  the  difference  that 
•;  is  found  between  them." 

For  thefe  reafons  Dr.  Mofeley  adopts  the  name  of  en- 
caufus ,    and  he  takes  notice  that  many  difficul- 
ties 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER.  383 

tics  have  arifen  to  young  pradtitioners,  and  to  ftrangers 
in  the  Weft-Indies,  from  the  various  names  improperly 
given  to  it  from  its  ultimate  and  not  from  its  primary 
fymptoms.  Some  calls  it  a  burning  bilious  fever  ;  War- 
ren, a  putrid  bilious  fever  ;  but,  though  they  have  d if- 
puted  about  their  terms,  Dr.  Mofeley  thinks  that  nei- 
ther of  them  have  proved  whether  bile  be  the  caufe  or  the 
effe<ft  of  the  difeafe.  To  call  it  the  black  vomit  or  the 
yellow  fever,  he  thinks  alfo  improper,  as  a  ftranger  would 
not  know  the  difeafe  until  fome  of  thefe  fymptoms  appear ; 
both  of  which  are  generally  fatal,  and  neither  of  them 
conftant. 

The  Weft-India  caufushe  fays  is  no  more  putrid  than 
the  fmall-pox,  or  any  other  acute  difeafe  ;  which  may, 
after  it  has  patted  its  inflammatory  ftate,  change  to  pu- 
trefaction, and  end  in  death  with  an  extraordinary  diflb- 
lution  of  the  fluids.  The  difeafe  is  in  truth  an  inflam- 
matory one  in  the  higheft  degree  poffible  ;  accompanied 
with  fuch  fymptoms  in  a  greater  extent  as  attend  all  in- 
flammatory fevers,  and  moft  ftrikingly  the  reverfe  of  any 
difeafe  that  is  putrid,  or  of  one  exacerbation.  It  obeys 
no  feafon  of  the  year,  and  attacks  fuch  people,  and  un- 
der fuch  circumftances,  as  are  feldom  the  objects  of  pu- 
trid difeafes,  viz.  all  who  are  of  an  inflammatory  diathe- 
lis,  and  do  not  perfpire  freely. 

This  diftemper  attacks  failors  in  the  Weft-Indies 
more  than  any  other  fet  of  men,  even  of  new  comers. 
For  this  the  Dr.  affigns  as  a  reafora,  that  they  eat,  drink, 
and  fleep,  fo  much  at  fea,  ufe  no  exercife,  and  are 
always  of  grofs  habit  of  body.  To  this  he  adds  the  heat 
and  dampnefs  of  harbours,  generally  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  marfhes,  and  their  expofure  to  land  winds  at 
night  ;  the  labour  they  endure  on  board  veflels  in  port, 
and  the  carelelThefsand  excefTes  frequently  committed  by 
thefe  people  after  long  voyages. 

When  a  ftranger  newly  arrived  feels  a  fudden  iofs  of 
ftrength,  with  a  continual  defire  of  changing  his  pofition 
without  finding  reft  in  any,  we  may  expect  a  caufus.  If 
he  has  expofed  himfelf  to  any  of  the  caufes  juft  mention- 
ed, the  probable  cohfequences  would  be,  that  on  the 

morrow 


384  A    TREATISE    ON 

morrow  he  would  feel  an  heavinefs,  laffitude,  opprefliorj 
and  lofs  of  appetite.*  Next  day,  or  perhaps  within 
twelve  hours  from  the  firft  indifpofition,  the  violence  of 
the  difeafe  commences  with  faintnefs,  generally  giddi- 
nefs  of  the  head,  with  a  fmall  degree  of  chillnefs  and 
horror,  but  never  any  rigor.  Thefe  fymptoms  are  fuc- 
ceeded  by  a  high  fever,  great  heat,  and  ftrong  beatings 
of  the  arteries,  particularly  thofe  of  the  temples  and  ca- 
rotids ;  iluihings  of  the  face,  gafping  for  cool  air ;  tongue 
white  tinged  wilh  yellow,  after  the  retchings  have  com- 
menced ;  exceflive  third  ;  rednefs,  heavinefs,,  and  fenfa- 
tions  of  burning  in  the  eyes  ;  heavinefsand  darting  pains 
in  the  head,  fmall  of  the  back,  and  often  down  the 
thighs ;  the  pulfe  generally  full  and  ftrong,  but  fome- 
times  quick,  low,  and  vaccillating  ;  the  {kin  hot  and  dryy 
though -fometimes  it  has  a  partial  and  momentary  moif- 
ture.  There  is  a  ficknefs  of  ftornach  from  the  begin- 
ning ;  retchings  fucceed  immediately  after  any  liquid  is 
fwallowed,  which  bring  up  bilious  matter.  There  is  an 
anxiety  with  ftri«flure,  forenefs,  and  intenfe  heat  about 
the  prsecordia  ;  great  reftleffnefs,  heavy  refpiration,  figh- 
ing,  urine  deep  coloured  and  in  fmall  quantity. 

Thus  the  fever  goes  on  during  its  firft  ftage,  which 
conftitutes  the  inflammatory  period^  and  continues  from 
twenty-four  to  lixty  hours.  The  fecond,  which  our  au- 
thor calls  the  metaptofis,  is  comparatively  mild,  and  is  an 
Intermediate  ftate  between  the  inflammatory  and  gangre- 
nous ftages.  In  this  there  is  an  abatement  of  many  of 
the  former  fymptoms,  and  a  kind  of  deceitful  tranquillity, 
accompanied,  however,  with  a  perturbation,  if  the  patient 
Should  hapiien  to  ileep.  There  now  appears  a  yellow 
tinge  in  the  eyes,  neck  and  breaft  -,  the  heat  fubfides, 
fometimes  accompanied  with  chiilnefs,  but  never  with 
that  kind  of  rigor,  which,  when  it  happens,  terminates 
the  difeafe  by  fweat,  or  by  copious  bilious  evacuations, 
upwards  or  downwards.  The  retchings  increafe  and  be- 
come porraceous  :  the  pulfe  flags,,  but  is  fornetimes  high, 

and 

*  M  This  (fays  the  Doftor)  is  the  time  to  eitinguifli  the  difeafe  ;  but  fiuro^- 
«*  peans  and  North  Americans  generaily  negledt  it*  as  they  are  not  accuftome<l 
••  at  home  to  have  recourfe  to  nsedicineon  the  firft  moment  of  incUfpo&UQn-"' 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER.  38$ 

and  fometimes  foft  ;  the  /kin  moid  and  clammy  ;  urine 
of  a  dark  faffron  colour,  and  in  fmall  quantity  ;  the 
tongue  in  fome  cafes  is  dry,  hdrd,  and  difcoloiired,  in 
others  furred  and  moid  •  the  head  is  confiifed,  fome- 
times with  delirium,  with  a  gloffinefs  of  the  eyes.  This 
ftage  of  the  difeafe  continues  fometimes  only  for  a  few 
hours,  at  others  from  twelve  .to  forty-eight,  feldom 
longer,  and  too  frequently  the  difeafe  hurries  on  rapidly 
from  the  firft  to  the  third  ftage,  which  is  the  gangrenous 
or  fatal  ftate.  Now  the  pulfe  finks,  intermits,  and  be- 
comes unequal,  fometimes  very  quick  ;  the  vomiting 
becomes  frequerit  with  great  draining  and  noife.  The1 
rnltter  difcharged  is  now  in  greater  quantity,  appearing 
like  the  grounds  of  coffee,  or  of  a  flate  coloiir,  and  the 
ftomach  can  retain  nothing  :  the  breathing  is  difficult, 
the  tongue  black,  the  fweats  cold  arid  clamrriy,  the  eyes 
yellow  and  funk  ;  there  is  a  yellownefs  round  the  moutH. 
and  temples,  and  foon  after  over  the  whole  body.  The 
deepening  of  the  yellow  colour,  with  an  aggravation  of 
the  other  fyniptbms,  is  a  forerunner  of  death.  There  is 
a  deep  refpiratiori,  fubfultus  tendinum,  a  cdnvulfive 
kind  of  fighing  ;  the  urine  is  quite  black,  and  fometimes 
totally  fupprefied.  There  is  a  death-like  coldnefs  of  the 
hands,  feet  and  legs,  While  the  Heat  ftill  remains  about 
the  ftomach  ;  the  patient  is  delirious;  and  druggies  to  get 
up  in  bed  ;  he  trembles,  his  fpeech  falters  ;  blood  oozes 
from  the  mouth  arid  rioftnls,  forrietimes  frorri  the  corners 
of  the  eyes  and  ears  •  a  black  bloody  cruor  is  difcharged 
both  by  vomit  arid  dool  :  livid  fpots  appear  on  differ- 
ent parts  of  the  body,  particularly  the  pr&cordia ;  hic- 
cup, muttering,  coma,  and  death,  folldw  in  quick 
fuccefiion. 

The  affecting  cafe  ofcnpt.  Mawhood,  who  died  on  the 

fourth  day  of  the  difeafe;  at  Port-Royal  in  Jamaica,  in 

the  year  1780,  exhibits  a  dreadful  piclufe  of  this  difeafe 

5n  its  lad  dage.     "  When  I  entered  the  room,  (fays  Dr. 

;  Moieley)  he  was  vomiting  a  black,  bloody  cruor,  and 

"  he  was    bleeding  at   the  nofe.     A  bloody  ichor  was 

<  oozing  from  the  corners  of  his  eyes,  and  from  his  mouth 

''  and  gums.     His  face  was  befmeared  with  blood,  and 

-D  d  d  "  with 


A    TREATISE    ON 

"  with  the  dullnefs  of  his  eyes  it  prefented  a  mod  diftref- 
"  fing  contraft  to  his  natural  vifage.  His  abdomen  was 
"  fwelled  and  inflated  moft  prodigioufly.  His  body  was 
<c  all  over  of  a  deep  yellow,  interfperfed  with  livid  fpots. 
<c  His  hands  and  feet  were  of  a  livid  hue.  Every  part  of 
"  him  was  cold,  excepting  about  his  heart.  He  had  a 
"  deep,  ftrong,  hiccup,  but  neither  delirium  nor  coma; 
*'  and  was,  at  my  firft  feeing  him,  as  I  thought,  in  his 
"  perfect  fenfes.  He  looked  at  the  changed  appearance 
"  of  his  fkin,  and  exprefTed,  though  he  could  not  fpeak^ 
<c  by  his  fad  countenance,  that  he  knew  life  was  foon  to 
*'  yield  up  her  citadel,  now  abandoning  the  reft  of  his 
"  body.  Exhaufted  with  vomiting,  he  was  at  laft  fuf- 
**  focated.with  the  blood  he  was  endeavouring  to  bring 
*c  up,  and  expired." 

The  fymptoms  juft  now  enumerated  generally  take 
place  in  thofe  who  die  from  the  third  to  the  feventh  day 
of  the  difeafe.  But  in  this,  as  in  other  fevers,  the  fymp- 
toms vary  conflderably  according  to  the  conftitution  of 
the  patient,,  and  habit  of  the  body.  In  fome  it  begins 
neithej  with  chillnefs,  <aintnefs,  nor  flufhings  of  the  face. 
Sometimes  the  pulfe  is  much  depreffed  and  not  quick  -9 
and  in  fultry  weather,  and  damp  fituations,  where  the 
inflammatory  ftate  has  been  only  of  a  few  hours  duration, 
the  w<?tap/0/fr  has  been  fo, rapid,  that  the  black  vomiting 
and  the  mortified  ftate  have  unexpectedly  appeared,  and 
have  ended  the  patient  in  24,  36  or  48  hours.  But  our 
author  fays  that  he  never  faw  or  heard  of  an  inftance  of 
what  Lind  fays,  that  the  black  vomit  may  attack  a  man 
when  newly  arrived,  without  any  previous  complaint ; 
or  of  that  mentioned  by  the  fame  author,  viz.  "  an 
uneafy  itching  fenfation,  commonly  in  the  legs ;  and 
upon  pulling  down  the  ftockings,  ftreams  of  thin-dif- 
iblved  blood  followed,  and  a  ghaftly  yellow  colour  quick- 
ly diffufed  itfclf  all  over  the  body.'" 

In  fome  cafes  the  difeafe  is  much  more  mild.  There 
are  inftances  where  it  has  been  protracted  to  the  eighth, 
ninth  or  tenth  day  j  and  others  where  it  has  never  paflcd 
from  the  inflammatory  ftage ;  but  being  checked, 
though  not  extinguiihed,  it  has  been  lengthened  out,  and 

at 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER. 

at  laft  converted  into  a  remittent  of  great  duration,  mod 
difficult  of  cure,  and  tedious  of  recovery. 

According  to  our  author,  the  ftomach  feems  to  bear 
the  principal  burden  of  the  difeafe,  and  accordingly,  after 
death,  appears  to  have  been  principally  affeded.  Great 
heat  is  perceived  near  the  prsecordia  during  all  the  ftages 
of  the  difeafe,  and  pain  and  uneafinefs  are  complained 
of  when  thofe  parts  are  prefied  with  the  hand.  After 
death,  livid  fpots  appear  over  the  whole  body,  particu- 
larly about  the  prsecordia.  On  difTedion,  the  ftomach, 
in  fome  part  or  other,  is  generally  found  mortified, 
efpecially  if  the  black  vomiting  has  continued  long,  and 
the  livid  fpots  have  appeared  before  death.  Frequently 
the  upper  part  of  the  duodenum  is  in  a  gangrenous  ftate, 
and  always  bears  the  marks  of  inflammation,  let  the  dif- 
eafe have  been  of  ever  fo  fhort  a  duration. 

Though  both  liver  and  gall-bladder  muft  be  very 
much  affeded  in  this  difeafe,  yet  Dr.  Mofeley  is  of 
opinion  that  nothing  can  be  depended  upon  from  an 
infpedion  of  them  after  death.  Some  fymptoms  there 
are  in  common  with  inflammations  of  the  liver,  but 
none  of  thofe  which  diftinguifh  it  from  other  difeafes. 
It  never  terminates  in  fuppuration  of  the  liver  as,  the 
hepatitis  fometimes  does,  though  it  is  frequently  carried 
off  by  an  enormous  fecretion  of  bile.  "  Diffedions 
44  (fays  the  Dodor)  have  never  difcovered  any  certain 
"  and  uniform  appearance  in  the  liver  of  thofe  who  have 
"  digd  of  this  difeafe.  In  hot  climates  a  found  ftate  of  the 
"  liver  is  never  to  be  expeded  after  death,  whether  the 
4i  difeafe  has  been  acute  or  chronical.  Of  the  latter  clafs 
"  of  difeafes  it  is  almoft  always  either  the  feat,  or  the 
"  origin.'* 

Dr.  Lining,  in  a  letter  to  Dr.  Whytt  at  Edinburgh, 
publifhed  in  the  Phyfical  and  Literary  EfTays,  defines 
the  difeafe,  to  be  "  that  fever,  which  continues  two  or 
"  three  days,  and  terminates  without  any  critical  dif- 
8C  charge  by  fweat,  urine,  ftool,  &c.  leaving  the  patient 
"  executively  weak,  with  a  fmall  pulfe,  eafily  depreflible 
"  by  very  little  motion,  or  by  an  ered  pofture  ;  and 
"  which  is  foon  fucceecled  by  an  ideritious  (jaundice) 

"  colour 


38S  A    TREATISE    ON 

"  colour  in  the  white  of  the  eyes  and  the  ikin  ;  vomiting, 
<c  haemorrhages,  &c.  and  thofe  without  being  accom- 
"  panied  with  any  degree  of  a  febrile  pulfe  and  heat." 

In  the  four  times  in  which  he  mentions  it  to  have 
been  epidemic  at  Charlefton,  our  author  fays,  that  none 
of  the  years  (excepting  1739,  the  fummer  and  autumn 
of  which  had  been  remarkably  rainy)  were  either  warmer 
or  more  rainy  (and  forne  of  them  lefs  fo)  than  the  fum- 
rners  and  autumns  were  in  feveral  other  years  in  which 
there  was  not  one  inftance  of  any  one  being  feized  with 
it.  The  fubjects  were  whites  of  both  fexes,  efpecialiy 
ftrangers  lately  arrived,  from  cold  climates,  Indians,  Mif- 
tees,  Mulattoes  of  all  ages,  excepting  young  children, 
and  of  thofe  only  fuch  as  had  formerly  efcaped  the  in- 
feclion.  Negroes  were  not  liable  to  it. 

Thofe  affected  with  the  fever,  for  a  day  or  two  pre- 
vious to  the  attack  generally   complained  of  head-ach, 
pain  in  the  loins  and  extremities,   but  principally  in  the 
knees  and  legs,  debility  and  laffitude  ;    but  fome  were 
taken  ill  fuddenly  without  any  warning.    The  fymptoms 
were,  Havering ;    frequent,  full,  hard  and  ftrong  pulfe  ^ 
though  fometimes  fmall  and  hard,  and  in  others  foft  and 
frnall  -,  but  towards  the  end  of  the  fever  it  became  fmal- 
ler,  harder,  and  lefs  frequent.     Sometimes  there  was  a 
remarkable  throbbing  in  the  hypochondria  an'd  carotids, 
the  former  caufing  in  fome  a  tremulous   motion   of  the 
xvhole  abdomen.     The  heat  was  about  102  of  Fahren^ 
heit,  and  nearly  equal  over  the  whole  body ;  fome   had 
frequent  returns  of  chillinefs  without  any  diminution  of 
temperature  of  the  body.     "  In  a  few  there  happened  fo 
"  great  a  remifiion  of  the  heat  for  fome  hours,  when  at  the 
"  fame  time  the  pulfe  was,  foft  and  lefs  frequent,  and  the 
"  ikin  moift,  that   one   from  thefe  circumftances  might 
"  reafonably   have'  hoped    that   the  fever  would  only 
<c  prove  a  remittent  or  intermittent.     About  the  end  of 
c  the  fccond  day  the  heat  began  to  abate."     Here  Dr. 
Mofeley  takes  notice  that  when  the  fever  abates,   fome, 
who  have  miftaken  the  bilious  remittent  for   the  caitfus* 
ipcak  of  remiffions  which  do  not  happen   in   this  fever. 
"  Tliis  circumftance  of  the  endemial  caufus  (fays  he) 
I  believe,  has  never  been  mentioned  before."  Dr. 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER. 

Dr.  Lining  goes  on  to  inform  us,  that  the  ftin  was 
rarely  dry  in  this  difeafe,  there  being  generally  a  propen- 
fity  to  fvveat.  "  On  the  firft  day  the  fweating  was  com- 
"  monly  profufe  and  general,  on  the  fecond  it  was  more 
"  moderate  ;  but  on  both  thofe,  there  happened  frequent 
<c  and  fhort  remifllons  of  the  fweatings,  at  which  times 
<J  the  febrile  heat  increafed,  and  the  patient  became  more 
"  uneafy.  On  the  third  day  the  difpofition  to  fweat 
"  was  fo  much  abated  that  the  /kin  was  generally  dry  ;  on- 
ic  ly  the  forehead  and  backs  of  the  hands  continued  moid." 
A  great  defpondency  and  proftration  of  ftrength  took 
place  from  the  firft  attack.  On  the  firft  day  they  ge- 
nerally dozed  much,  but  were  afterwards  very  watchful. 
Qn  the  fecond  day  the  pains  in  the  head,  loins,  &c.  of 
which  they  had  complained  before  the  attack,  and  which 
were  fometimes  very  acute  in  the  forehead,  generally 
went  off.  Many  on  the  firft  day  were  a  little  delirious, 
but  afterwards  not  until  the  recefs  of  the  fever. 

The  blood  had  no  inflammatory  cruft  ;  in  warm 
weather  it  was  florid  like  arterial  blood,  and  continued  in 
one  foft  homogeneous  like  mafs,  without  any  feparation  of 
the  ferum  after  it  was  cold.  When  there  was  any  fepa- 
ration, the  crafTamentum  was  of  too  loofe  a  texture. 

This  difeafe  was  not  attended  with  any  remarkable 
thirft  ;  but,  on  the  third  day,  as  the  fever  began  to  lef- 
fen,  or  rather,  fays  the  Doctor,  as  the  fulncfs  of  the  pulfe, 
heat  and  difpofition  to  fweat,  began  to  abate,  a  riaufea, 
vomiting,  or  frequent  Teachings  to  vomit,  came  on  efpe- 
cially  after  the  exhibition  of  either  medicines  or  food. 
A  very  few  had  a  vomiting,  either  bilious  or  phlegmatic, 
on  the  firft  day.  The  whole  febrile  ftate  was  attended 
with  an  obftinate  coftivenefs. 

Thefe  were  the  principal  fymptoms  with  which  the 
febrile  ftate  was  attended,  and  which  generally  went  off 
on  the  third  day,  or  in  feventy-two  hours  from  the  firfi; 
attack,  without  any  lalutary  crifis,  and  was  foon  fuc- 
ceeded  by  the  fecond  f>adium9  as  our  author  calls  it  ;  a 
ftate,  though  without  a  fever,  much  more  terrible  than 
the  former.  The  fymptoir.s  now  were, 


i. 


A    TREATISE   ON 

i.  The  pulfe,  though  hard  and  fmall,  became  lefs  fre* 
quent  ;  very  little  more  fo  than  in  health.  Soon  after 
it  became  much  flower,  and  very  foft  ;  this  foftnefs  re- 
maining while  any  pulfe  could  be  felt.  In  many  it  gra- 
dually fubfided,  till  it  became  fcarce  perceptible  ;  nei- 
ther could  it  be  fupported  by  any  of  the  ordinary  means 
ufed  for  that  purpofe.  After  this  the  yellow  fuffufion,  the 
vomiting,  delirium,  reftlefsnefs,  &c.  increaferf  to  a  great 
degree.  Sometimes  the  pulfe  would  recover  its  flrength, 
but  only  for  a  (hort  time. 

a.  The  heat  did  not  exceed  the  natural,  and  was  ftill 
farther  diminifhed  as  the  pulfe  funk  ;  the  fkin  became 
cold,  and  the  face,  bread  and  extremities  acquired  fome- 
fhing  of  a  livid  colour,  There  was  no  great  thirft,  though 
the  fick  had  a  great  inclination  for  drong  liquors. 

3.  The  vomiting  or  reaching  to  vomit  increafed,  and 
in  fome  were  fo  conftant,  that  neither  medicines  nor  ali- 
ment of  any  kind  could  be  retained.  Some  vomited 
blood,  others  only  what  was  laft  exhibited,  mixed  with 
phlegm,  while  others  had  what  is  called  the  black  vomit. 
But  this,  though  its  general  appearance  is  black,  appears 
not  to  be  entirely  fo,  but  owes  its  colour  to  a  great  num- 
ber of  black  ilakey  fubdances.  Thefe  are  by  our  author 
fuppofed  to  be  the  bile  mixed  with  the  mucus  of  the 
ftornach,  or  adhering  to  it.  He  founds  his  opinion 
upon  obfervations  from  dilTection,  where  the  mucus  of 
the  domach  was  always  found  abraded,  and  the  bile  in 
•its  cyftis  black,  and  ibmetimes  very  vifcicl.  This  change 
In  the  ftate  of  the  bile  he  has  always  obferved  in  fuch  as 
died  of  this  difeafe,  and  likewife  thatthe  blood  w£s  very 
fluid,  and  the  verTels  of  the  vifcera  much  diftended.  In 
one  cafe  he  found  the  bile  of  the  confidence  of  turpentine, 
and  carbuncles  or  gangrenous  fpecks  on  the  ftomach. 

The  reaching  to  vomit  continued  a  longer  or  fhorter 
time,  according  to  the  date  of  the  pulfe  ;.  an  increafe  of 
fulncfs  of  the  pulfe  being  attended  with  an  abatement  of 
the  reaching,  and  the  contrary. 

In  this  date  the  patients  were  extreme ly  unquiet,  even 
their  fkep  being  frequently  attended  with  dejection  of 
(pints  and  debility.  This  lad  fymptom  was  fo  excef- 

five 


TfiE  YELLOW  FEVER.  391 

five  that  if  the  patient  was  only  raifed  up  in  bed,  or  fome- 
times  if  the  head  was  only  raifed  from  the  pillow,  while 
a  little  drink  was  given,  the  pulfe  funk  immediately,  and 
became  fometimes  fo  fmall,  that  it  could  fcarce  be  felt  ; 
they  became  cold,  the  fkin  became  clammy,  the  deliri- 
um increafed,  their  lips  and  fkin,  efpecially  about  the 
neck,  face  and  extremities,  as  well  as  the  nails,  acquired 
a  livid  colour.  The  reftleffnefs  and  tofling  were  fo  great, 
that  it  was  fometimes  fcarce  pofiible  to  keep  the  fkk  in 
bed,  though,  even  in  this  ftate,  they  made  no  particular 
complaint,  and  if  asked  how  Jiiey  did,  the  reply  was, 
far y^  well. 

A  yellownefs  in  the  eyes  became  now  very  obfervable, 
and  this  was  foon  diffufed  all  over  the  body  ;  but  in 
forne,  this  colour  did  not  appear  until  a  little  before 
death,  when  it  fpread  furprifingly  quick,  efpecially 
about  the  bread  and  neck.  Along  with  thfs  were  a 
number  of  frnall  fpots  of  afcarlet,  purple  or  livid  colour. 
Thefe  appeared  principally  about  the  neck  and  breaft. 

Some  were  obftinately  codive,  others  the  contrary, 
with  large,  liquid  and  black  (tools,  but  others  were  re- 
lieved by  moderate  ftools,  even  though  black.  In  forne 
they  refembled  tar,  in  fmotfthnefs,  tenacity,  colour  and 
confidence. 

In  this  difeafe  there  was  fuch  a  putrid  diflblution  of 
the  blood  that  hemorrhages  took  place  from  almoft  all 
parts  of  the  body.  In  ,  women  the  menftrua  flowed, 
fometimes  in  great  quantity,  even  at  irregular  periods. 
Blood  flowed  alfo  from  the  eyes,  nofe,  mouth  and  ears, 
and  from  thofe  parts  where  bliders  had  been  laid  on. 
"  Nay,  (fays  our  author)  in  the  year  1 739  or  1745,  there 
"  were  one  or  two  inftances  of  an  haemorrhage  from  the 
"  fkin,  without  any  apparent  pun&ure,  or  any  lofs  of  the 
"  fcarf-fldn/*  The  urine  was  pale  while  the  patient  was 
not  yellow,  but  a  deep  faffron  colour  when  the  yellownefs 
had  come  on.  Sometimes  it  was  turbid,  at  others 
blood/,  and  the  quantity  of  blood  was  always  in  propor- 
tion to  the  dafe  of  the  pulfe  ;  diminifhing  as  the  pulfe 
became  more  full,  and  increafing  as  it  became  weaker, 

In 


A    TREATISE   ON 

In  the  third  ftage,  which  always  terminated  in 
the  pulfe  was  exceedingly  fmall  and  Unequal,  though  foft } 
the  extremities  were  cold,  clammy  and  livid  ;  the  face  and 
lips  in  fome  flufhed,  in  others  they  were  of  a  livid  colour ; 
the  livid  fpecks  increafed  fo  faft,  that  in  fome  the  whole 
bread  and  heck  appeared  livid  ;  the  heart  palpitated 
ftrongly  ;  the  heat  about  the  prscordia  was  greatly  in- 
created,  refpiratidn  became  difficult,  with  frequent  figh- 
irig  ;  the  patient  became  anxious  and  extremely  reftlefs, 
the  tweat  flowed  from  the  face,  neck  and  breaft,  blood 
from  the  mouth  or  nofc-jor  ears,  ami  in  fome  from  all  to- 
gether ;  the  deglutition  became  difficult,  hiccup  and  fub  - 
fultus  tendinum  came  on,  the  patient  picked  the  bed- 
clothes, was  comatous  or  conftantly  delirious.  In  this 
terrible  (late  fome  continued  eight;  ten  or  twelve  hours 
before  they  died,  even  after  they  had  been  fo  long  fpeech- 
lefs,  and  without  any  perceptible  pulfation  of  the  arteries 
and  wrifts  \  whereas  in  all  other  acute  difeafes,  death 
follows  immediately  after  the  pulfe  in  the  wrifts  ceafes, 
When  the  difeafe  was  very  acute,  violent  convulfions 
feized  the  unhappy  patient,  and  quickly  brought  this 
ftadium  to  its  fatal  end.  After  death  the  livid  blotches 
increafed  faft,  efpecially  about  the  face,  neck  and  breaft, 
and  the  putrefaction  began  very  early,  or  rather  increafed 
very  quickly.  In  hot  weather,  and  when  the  fymptoms 
at  Srtt  were  very  violent,'  there  was  little  difference  to  be 
obferved  between  the  ffodia,  tl-.e  whole  tragedy  being 
completed  in  lei's  than  forty-eight  hours. 

On  this  difeafe  in  general  Dr.  Lining  remarks,  that 
the  infection  was  increafed  by  warm,  and  lefTened  by 
cold,  weather.  In  hot  days  the  violence  of  the  fymp- 
toms were  augmented  to  fuch  a  degree  as  fometimes  to 
become  fatal  to  thofe  who,  in  nlodcrate  weather,  feemed 
to  be  in  no  danger;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  in  cold 
days,  fome  who  had  been  in  great  danger  were  apparent- 
ly faved  from  the  jaws  of  death.  The  difeafe  was  alfo 
more  fatal  to  thofe  who  lay  in  fmall  chambers  without  a 
proper  ventilation,  to  fuch  as  were  of  an  an  athletic 
an(3  full  habit,  to  ilrangers,  natives  of  a  cold  climate, 
«inr!  to  fuch  as  were  moft  afraid  of  it,  as  well  as  to  thofe 

who 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER.  39$ 

who  had  previoufly  overheated  therhfelves  by  exercife  in 
the  fun,  or  by  exceffive  drinking  of  ftrong  liquors.  It 
proved  alfo  moft  certainly  fatal  to  valetudinarians,  or  to 
iuch  as  had  been  previoufly  weakened  by  any  difeafe. 

Dr.  Lind  obferves  that  "  a  yellow  colour  of  the  fkiii 
"  is  obferved  not  only  in  common  agues,  but  likewife 
"  in  other  fevers ;  fometimes  denoting,  as  in  contagious 
*'  fevers,  their  malignant  nature,  at  other  times,  as  ia 
"  fome  Weft  Indian  fevers,  an  univerfal  diflblution  of 
"  the  blood  and  humours  ;  and  frequently  this  fymptom 
"  accompanies  gentle  difcharges  of  the  bile,  and  a  dif- 
"  eafed  liver."  In  fpeaking  of  the  difeafesih  the  Weft 
Indies,  he  mentions  fome  fevers,  which  he  derives  from 
ftagnated  air,  "  of  fuch  a  maligrlant  nature,  that  the 
"  people  after  being  there  a  few  days  are  fuddenly  feized 
"  with  violent  vomitings,  head-achs,  deliriums,  8tc.  and 
"  in  two  or  three  days  more  the  whole  body  putrefies, 
"  and  the  diflblved  mafs  of  blood  iflues  from  every 
"  pore.  .  .  .  On  confidering  the  yellow  fever  particu- 
"  larly  he. is  of  opinion  that  the  remarkable  diflblutiort 
"  of  the  brood,  together  with  the  tendency  to  putrefac- 
"  tion  in  the  whole  body,  the  black  vomit,  and  other 
"  chara&eriftic  fymptoms,  are  often  accidental  though, 
"  fatal  appearances  in  fevers  of  the  Weft  Indies.  They 
"  proceed,  according  to  him,  in  fuch  as  are  newly  arrived, 
"  fometimes  from  a  grofs  habit  of  body,  exceffive  drink- 
"  ing  of  fpiritous  liquors,  and  from  being  afterwards 
"  overheated  in  the  fun  ;  but  the  intenfe  heat  and  un- 
"  healthfulnefs  of  the  air  does  much  more  frequently 
"  produce  all  thofe  fymptoms.  This  fever  was  once 
"  fuppofed  to  have  been  firft  carried  into  the  Weft  In- 
"  dies  by  a  (hip  from  Si  am  :  an  opinion  truly  chimerical  -, 
"  as  (imilar  diieafes  have  made  their  appearance,  not  only 
"  in  the  Eafl  Indies^  but  in  fome  of  the  fouthern  parts  of 
"  Europe,  during  a  feafon  when  the  air  was  irttenfely 
41  hot  and  unwholefome.  This  happened  in  the  months 
"  of  September  and  October  1764,  wheh  exceffive  heat 
"  and  want  of  rain  for  forrie  months  gave  rife  to  violent 
"  epidemic  bilious  difeafes,  refembling  thofe  of  the  Weft 
*/  Indies,  in  the  city  of  Cadiz  in  Spain,  of  which  ari 

E  e  e  "  hundred 


-94  A    TREATISE    ON 

"  hundred  perfons  often  died  in  a  day.  At  this  time 
"  the  winds  blew  moftly  from  the  fouth,  and  after  fun- 
"  fet  there  fell  an  unufual  and  very  heavy  dew.  The 
"  difeafe  began  with  alternate  heats  and  chills,  naufea, 
"  pains  of  the  head,  back  and  loins,  and  at  the  pit  of  the 
:(  ftomach.  Thefe  fymptoms  were  often  followed,  in 
4  lefs  than  24  hours,  with  violent  Teachings,  and  a 
:c  vomiting  of  green  and  yellow  bile,  the  fmell  of  which 
•"  was  very  offenfive.  Some  threw  up  an  humour  as 
c  black  as  ink,  and  died  foon  after,  in  violent  convul- 
:c  fions  and  in  a  cold  fweat.  The  pulfe  was  fometimes 
"  funk,  fometimes  quick,  but  often  varying.  After  the 
"  firft  day,  the  furface  of  the  body  was  generally  either 
"  cold,,  or  dry  and  parched.  The  head-ach  and  ftupor 
c<  often  ended  in  a  furious  delirium,  which  quickly 
"  proved  fatal.  The  dead  bodies  having  been  examined 
<c  by  order  of  the  court  of  Madrid,  the  ftomach,  meten- 
"  tery  and  inteftines  were  found  covered  with  gangre- 
:c  nous  fpots.  The  orifice  of  the  ftomach  appeared  ta 
"  have  been  greatly  affected,  the  fpots  upon  it  being 
**  ulcerated.  The  liver  and  lungs  were  both  of  a  putrid 
"  colour  and  texture. 

"  The  ftomach  contained  a  quantity  of  an  atrabilious 
"  liquor,  which,  when  poured  on  the  ground,  produced 
"'  afenfibleeffervefcence ;  but,  when  mixed  with  fpirit  of 
"  vitriol,  a  violent  ebullition  enfued.  The  dead  bodies 
"  turned  fo  quickly  putrid,  that  at  the  end  of  fix  hours  their 
"  fteneh  was  intolerable,  and  in  fome  of  them  worms 
"  were  already  found  lodged  in  the  ftomach.  His  Ma- 
"  jefty's  fhip  the  Tweed  being  at  that  time  in  Cadiz  bay, 
"  feveral  of  her  men  were  taken  ill  when  on  fliore,  but, 
"by  being  carried  on  board,  all  of  them  recovered. 
"  Neither  did  the  black  vomit  or  any  other  deadly 
"  fymptom  of  that  fever  make  its  appearance  in  any  of 
"  the  fhips.  The  dread  of  this  diftemper  forced  many 
"  people  of  fadiion  to  retire  into  the  country,  where  they 
<£  remained  in  perfect  fafety." 

Dr.  Lind  further  remarks,  that  in  the  yellow  fever  it 
is  a  bad  fign  if  the  ikin  is  very  dry  and  rough  ;  "  and  the 
"  longer  it  continues  in  this  ftate,  the  greater  is  the  dan- 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER,  395 

<s  ger,  as  fuch  patients  feldom  recover,  though  the  pulfe 
"  may  give  hopes,  and  the  other  fymptoms  alfo  be  flat- 
<c  tering;  for  many  haveagood  pulfe  in  this  fever  a  little 
"  before  death,"  He  alfo  quotes  Dr.  Bruce,  an  eminent 
phyfician  of  Barbadoes,  whofe  account  of  the  difeafe  is  to 
the  fame  -purpofe.  He  fays  it  may  come  on  at  any 
feafon  of  the  year,  but  that  the  fymptoms  are  mod 
fevere  when  there  is  great  heat  joined  with  moidure. 
The  blood,  even  in  the  beginning  of  the  difeafe,  is  of 
a  florid  red  colour,  and  as  it  were  rarefied  ;  the  crafla- 
mentum fcarcely  cohering  -,  the  ferum  of  a  clay-co- 
Joured  yellow.  It  fometimes  finifhes  its  courfe  in  24 
hours. 

The  account  given  by  Dr.  Hillary  correfponds  alfo 
very  much  with  that  already  given,  the  fubjects  of  the 
difeafe  are  the  fame  with  thofe  already  mentioned.  He 
has  feen  it  at  all  feafons  of  the  year,  but  it  is  word  in  a 
•hot  feafon,  efpecially  if  it  was  preceded  by  moid  and 
warm  weather.  "  Blood,  taken  even  at  the  beginning 
"  of  the  difeafe,  is  often  of  an  exceeding  florid  red  colour, 
66  much  rarefied  and  thin,  and  without  the  lead  appear- 
•"  ance  of  fizinefs ;  and  the  craflamentum,  when  it  has 
"  dood  till  it  is  cold,  will  fcarce  cohere,  but  fluctuates ; 
"  the  ferum  is  very  yellow.  .  .  .  On  the  fecond  or  third 
•"  day  the  blood  is  much  more  dilTolved,  the  ferum 
"  more  yellow,  and  the  craflamentum  Ioofe5  fcarcely 
"  cohering,  but  undulates  like  fizy  water  when  fhaken, 
"  and  fometimes  has  dark,  blackifn  fpots  on  its  furface., 
*c  fhowing  a  drong  gangrenefcent  diathefis.  ...  In  the 
"  latter  dage  of  this  fever  the  blood  is  fo  attenuated 
"  and  diflblved,  that  we  frequently  fee  it  flowing  not 
u  only  out  of  the  nofe  and  mouth,  but  from  the  eyes, 
"  and  even  through  the  very  pores  of  the  ikin  ;  alfo 
"  great  quantities  of  black,  half-baked,  half-mortified 
"  blood  is  frequently  voided,  both  by  vomiting  and 
"  dool,  with  great  quantities  of  yellow  and  blackifh  pu- 
"  trid  bile,  by  the  fame  ways ;  and  the  urine,  which 
*'  was  before  of  a  high  icteritious  colour,  is  now  almoft 
"  black,  and  is  frequently  mixed  with  a  quantity  of  half- 
"  cjiffolved  blood.  .  .  .  Soon  after  death  the  body  ap- 

"  pears 


A   TREATISE    ON 

c*  pears  much  fuller  of  livid,  large,  blackifh,  mortified 
"  fpots,  particularly  about  the  praecordia  and  hypocon- 
"  dres,  efpecially  the  right ;  which  parts  feem  to  be, 
"  even  from  the  firft  feizure,  the  principal  feat  of  this 
"  terrible  difeafe.  And  upon  opening  the  bodies  of 
c<  thofe  vyho  die  of  it,  we  generally  find  the  gall-bladder 
"  and  biliary  ducts  filled  with  a  putrid  blackifli  bile, 
"  and  the  liver  and  ftomach,  and  adjoining  parts,  full  of 
"  blackifh  and  mortified  (pots,  and  fometim.es.  gan- 
"  grenes,  in  thofe,  as  alfo  in  feverai  other  parts  of  the 
"  body.  And  the  whole  corpfe  foon  putrefies  after 
<c  death,  and  can  be  kept  but  a  few  hours  above 
"  ground." 

Dr.  Jackfon,  in  defcribing  the  yellow  fever  of  Jamai- 
ca, acknowledges  the  difficulty  of  characterising  the  dif- 
eafe, even  though  he  is  of  opinion  that  it  "  poffeffes  fome 
"  chara&eriftics  of  its  own,  different  from  thofe  of  any 
"  other."      In  a  note  at  the  end  of  his  work,  he  ob- 
ferves  the   impropriety  of  calling  it  the  yellow  fever; 
becaufe  that  yellownefs  fometimes  does  not  appear  at  all ; 
and  in  no  one  cafe  does  it  ordinarily  (how  itfelf  till  the 
latter  ftages.     "  I  know  alfo  (fays  he)  that  moft  of  the 
<c  practitioners  of  Jamaica  confider  it  only  as  an  aggra- 
"  vated  fpecies  of  the  remittent,  the  common  endemic 
"  of  hot  climates.     It  appeared  to  me,  I  muft  confefs,  in 
<c  a  different  light.  .  .  .  U  may  not,  however,  be  im- 
"  proper  here  to  take  notice  of  the  opinion  of  Dr.  Mofe- 
<c  ley,  who  has  endeavoured  to  perfuade  us  that  it  is  no. 
"  other  than  the  katifos,  or  ardent  fever,  of  the  ancients. 
"e  But  the  yellow  fever  of  the  Weft  Indies  is,   by  Dr. 
**  Mofeley's  own  confefiion,  in   fome  meafure  peculiar 
<c  to  ftrangers  newly  arrived  in  tropical  climates.     The 
"  kmtfos,   we  are  infornried,  made  its   appearance  in  the 
e<  iflands  of  the  Archipelago,    and  on  the  coafts  of  the 
'•  contiguous  continents,    indifcriminately  among  men 
"  and  women,  natives  and  foreigners  :  in  fact  it  has  not, 
cc  as  far  as  I  can  perceive,  any  claim  to  be  conlidered  as  a 
"  diftinct  difeafe.     If  I  rightly  underfland  Hippocrates, 
£l  or  the   defcription  of  the  ftill  more  accurate  Aret^us, 
*c  kaiifos  in  reality  is  only  an  accidental  condition  of  the 

"  common 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER.  397 

*•*  common  endemic  of  the  country,  where  the  force  of 
"  the  fever  is  chiefly  exerted  upon  the  ftomach  and  ali- 
"  mentary  canal.  In  this  manner  it  appears  frequently 
**  in  Jamaica,  and  in  the  fouthern  provinces  of  America. 
"  In  the  hot  months  of  fummer,  it  appears  occafionally 
<e  in  every  climate  ;.  and  is  not  necefiarily  accompanied 
"  with,  nor  does  it  depend  upon,  a  general  inflammatory 
"  diathefis  of  the  fyftern  for  its  exiftence." 

The  Doctor  divides  this  difeafe  into  three  fpecies  : 
I.  Where  "  figns  of  putrefaction  are  evident  at  a  very 
"  early  ftage,  which  is  generally  rapid  in  its  courfe,  and 
"  which  cafually  terminates  in  black  vomiting.  Yel- 
"  lownefs  feldom  or  never  fails  to  make  its  appearance  in 
"  the  prefent  inftance  ;  and  perhaps  it  is  the  only  one 
"  which,  ftrictly  fpeaking,  can  be  called  the  yellow  fever. 
"  2.  A  form  of  fever  which  has  either  no  remiffions,  or 
"  remiffions  which  are  fcarcely  perceptible  ;  in  which 
ci  figns  of  nervous  affection  are  more  obvious  than  fymp- 
"  toms  of  putrefcency ;  and  in  which  yellownefs  and  black 
"  vomiting  are  rare  occurrences.  3.  Another  form,  in 
"  which  regular  paroxyfms  and  remiffions  cannot  be  tra- 
"  ced  j  but  in  which  there  are  marks  of  violent  irritation, 
"  and  appearances  of  inflammatory  diathefis  in  the  ear- 
"  Her  ftage,  which  give  way,  after  a  fhort  continuance,. 
"  to  figns  of  debility  and  putrefcency,  to  which  yellow- 
"  nefs  frequently  fucceeds,  or  even  fometimes  the  fo 
*'  much  dreaded  vomiting  of  matter  of  a  dark  colour. 
"  The  difeafe  in  thefe  three  forms  appears  to  be  in  reality 
"  one  and  the  fame.  The  difference  of  the  fymptoms 
"  probably  arifes  from  very  trivial  or  very  accidental 
"  caufes.  It  is  in  fome  meafure  peculiar  to  ftrangers 
"  from  colder  regions  foon. after  their  arrival  in  the  Weft 
6C  Indies,  and  may  generally  be  diftinguiflicd  from  the  com- 
"  mon  endemic  of  the  country,  not  only  by  a  total  want  of 
"  paroxyfms  and  remiflions,  but  likewife  by  a  certain  ex- 
"  preffion  of  the  eye  and  countenance,  with  fomething  un- 
"  ufually  difagreeable  in  the  feelings,  of  which  words 
"  convey  only  an  imperfect  idea." 

The  fymptoms  enumerated  by  Dr.  Jackfon  are  in 
general  the  farne  with  thofe  already  taken  notice  of, 

He 


A    TREATISE    OM 

He  mentions  likewife  a  degree  of  confufion  frequently 
joined  with  grimnefs,  difficult  to  be  defcribed  in  words, 
but  which  a  perfon  acquainted  with  the  appearances  of 
the  difeafe  immediately  recognifes  as  one  of  its  dif- 
tinguifhing  marks.v  In  the  fecond  ftage  he  fays,  that  no 
fweat  or  moifture  was  now  obfervable  on  any  part  of  the 
body  :  the  ftate  of  the  fkin  impreffed  the  idea  as  if  it 
were  not  pervious  to  any  degree  of  perfpiration,  and  heat 
gradually  tbrfook  the  furface  and  extremities :  the  tongue 
became  moift,  and  at  the  fame  time  frequently  clean  about 
the  edges ;  the  gums  became  redder,  more  fpongy,  and 
{bowed  a  greater  difpofition  to  bleed  i  vomiting  was 
troublefome  :  the  matter  thrown  up  was  ropy,  in  large 
quantity,  and  abounding  with  villous  or  mucous  flakes 
of  a  darker  colour.  The  circulation  in  the  extreme 
vefFels  became  gradually  more  languid  ;  the  natural  heat 
retired  from  the  furface  of  the  body,  which  was  now  dry 
and  impervious  ;  the  pulfe  returned  nearly1" to  its  ordinary 
itate,  or  became  flow,  full  and  regular ;  the  yellownefs 
increafed  faft,  fo  that  the  whole  body  was  frequently 
yellow  as  an  orange,  or  of  as  deep  a  colour  as  the  fkin  of 
an  American  favage  :  anxiety  was  inexpreiTible ;  vomit- 
ing was  irreftrainable,  and  the  vomiting  of  a  matter  like 
the  grounds  of  coffee  at  laft  made  ifcs  appearance.  This 
matter  was  often  as  black  as  foot,  where  the  progrefs  of 
the  crifeafe  had  been  rapid  ;  while  it  was  not  only  lefs 
intenfely  black,  but  often  tinged  with  green,  where  the 
difeafe  had  been  more  flow  and  gradual.  The  number 
of  villous  or  mucous  flakes,  in  the  matter  difcharged  by 
vomit,  increafed  as  the  difeafe  advanced,  and  with  them 
were  joined  ftreaks  of  blood,  which  feemed  principally  to 
come  froai  the  throat  and  gums.  As  the  difeafe  advanced, 
the  vomiting  became  more  frequent,  but  was'feldom  ac- 
companied with  any  violent  retching.  Quantities  of 
liquor  were  difcharged,  fo  enormous  that  it  was  often 
difficult  to  imagine  whence  they  came,  after  which  the 
patient  enjoyed  fome  refpite,  till  a  iimilar  collection  was 
made.  As  foon  as  the  matter  difcharged  by  vomit  ac- 
quired this  dark  and  footy  colour,  the  belly  generally 
became  loofe,  the  ftoqls  being  black,  fmpoth,  and  not 

unlike 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER.  399 

tsnlike  tar  or  molaiTes ;  the  tongue  became  clean,  the 
gums  putrid  ;  haemorrhages,  or  rather  cozings  of  blood, 
were  fometimes  obferved  in  different  parts  of  the  body, 
while  livid  blotches  made  their  appearance  on  the  belly 
and  infides  of  the  thighs.  The  pulfe,  which  during  the 
latter  ftages  of  the  diftemper  could  fcarcely  be  diftin- 
guiihed  from  that  of  aperfon'in  health,  became  at  laft 
irregular,  quick,  or  intermitting  ;  foon  after  which  coma 
or  convulfions  clofed  the  fcene.  Sometimes  the  yellow- 
nefs  fucceeded  the  black  vomiting.  In  thefe  the  vo- 
miting began  unexpectedly,  or  without  much  previous 
affedion  of  the  ftomach  :  the  colour  was  commonly  in- 
tenfely  black ;  the  patient  turned  yellow  almoft  in  an 
inftant,  and  died  in  a  very  fliort  time.  When  any  one 
recovered  from  this  deplorable  fituation,  of  which  there 
were  forne  few  inftances,  the  termination  was  not  by 
any  regular  crifis.  The  black  vomiting  ceafed,  fome- 
times apparently  in  confequence  of  treatment,  fome- 
times evidently  of  its  own  accord  :  but  a  vomiting  of 
a  ropy,  glutinous  matter  continued  for  a  great  length  of 
time,  together  with  an  extreme  irritability  of  the  fto- 
mach,  and  a  very  peculiar  (late  of  the  fkin  j  which  fome- 
times did  not  recover  its  natural  fmoothnefs  and  unc- 
tuofity  for  feveral  weeks. 

The  difpofition  to  faint,  fo  common  in  the  yellow 
fever,  is  fuppofed  by  Dr.  Jackfon  to  arife  from  a  kind  of 
torpor  in  the  nervous  fyftem,  rather  than  the  ufual  caufes 
of  fainting.  For  this  opinion  he  affigns  as  a  reafon,  that 
44  the  patient  was  often  able  to  ftand  upright  for  fome 
"  time,  and  even  to  walk  to  a  conliderable  diftance ; 
"  and,  when  at  laft  overcome,  was  obferved  to  fall  down 
"  in  a  torpid,  rather  than  a  fainting,  {late." 

In  diffcdions  our  author  obferved  that  the  omentum 
and  all  its  appendages  were  in  a  dry  and  parched  ftate, 
and  of  an  uncommon  dark  grey  colour.  But,  along 
with  this  dark  grey  colour,  and  want  of  uRcluofity  and 
moifture,  ufually  met  with  in  the  abdomen,  the  ftomach 
and  inteftines  had  a  dirty  yellow  appearance,  were  highly 
putrefied,  and  much  diftended  with  wind.  The  liver 
and  fpleen  were  generally  enlarged  in  fize  ;  the  former 

of 


4od  A    TREATISE    ON 

of  a  deeper  yellow  than  any  of  the  other  abdominal 
vifcera ;  while  the  texture  of  the  fpleen  was  often  lefs 
firm  than  natural.  The  bile  was  ufually  black  and 
thick,  like  tar  or  molaires ;  the  blood-veflels  of  the  liver 
bearing  marks  of  uncommon  diftenfion.  A  quantity  of 
black  fluid,  fimilar  to  that  ejected  by  vomit,  was  found 
in  the  ftomach,  which  fluid  our  author  fays  pofitively 
derived  its  blacknefs  from  the  bile,  the  flakes  obferved 
to  float  in  in  being  parts  of  the  villous  coat  of  the  fto- 
mach abraded.  He  denies  that  the  black  colour  of  the 
matter  vomited  is  owing  to  blood,  as  many  authors  have 
fuppofed.  He  fays  that  the  paffage  of  the  bile  might 
be  eafily  traced  from  the  gall-duel:  into  the  pylorus. 

This  being  in  the  Doctor's  opinion  the  only  true  kind 
of  yellow  fever,  we  fhall  not  follow  him  through  the 
defcription  of  the  other  two  fpecies,  but  proceed  to  con- 
fider  that  remarkable  and  exceflively  fatal  diftemper 
which  appeared  in  the  year  1793,  firft  in  the  Weft  In- 
dia iflancls,  and  then  on  the  American  continent.  Dr. 
Chiiholm,  who  has  defcribed  the  diftemper  very  particu- 
krly^  derives  it  from  the  coaft  of  Africa,  and  gives  the 
following  account  of  its  origin  on  the  authority  of  a 
Mr.  J.  Paiba,  "  one  of  the  adventurers  in  the  Boullam 
"  fcheme  ;  and  who,  defpairing  of  fuccefs,  left  the  coaft 
"  of  Africa  in  a  veflel  called  the  Hankey.  This  veflel 
"  failed  from  England  in  April  1792  with  (lores  and 
44  adventurers  for  the  intended  colony  at  Boullam.  The 
"  people  were  all  in  good  health  :  that  part  of  the  coaft 
fcC  of  Africa  on  which  they  touched  is  remarkable  for  its 
44  healthinefs ;  only  it  is  deftitute  of  water  except  what 
44  can  be  procured  by  digging  temporary  wells  on  the 
44  beach,  and  which  is  brackilh,  and  confequently  un- 
"  wh'olefome.  The  ferocity  of  the  negroes  who  inhabit 
44  that  part  of  the  continent  prevented  them  from  being 
44  accommodated  on  (hore,  fo  that  they  found  themfelves 
46  obliged  to  remain  on  board  the  Hankey  for  nine 
44  months.  As  the  rainy  feafon  came  on  almoft  imme- 
"  diately  after  their  arrival  on  the  African  coaft,  they 
44  attempted  to  flicker  themfelves  by  raiiing  the  iides  of 
44  the  veflel  feveral  feet,  and  covering  it  with  a  wooden 

44  roof- 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER.  401 

*'  roof.'1  Thus  were  upwards  of  two  hundred  perfons, 
among  whom  were  many  women  and  children,  con- 
fined in  fuch  a  manner  as  muft  be  fuppofed  capable  of 
producing  fevers  of  a  bad  kind,  if  they  could  be  produced 
by  fuch  caufes.  Accordingly  a  malignant  fever  did 
break  out ;  the  veflel  was  not  ventilated,  nor  were  the 
bed-clothes,  &c.  of  the  fick  deftroyed  ;  from  whence 
Dr.  Chifholm  concludes  that  the  infection  remained 
on  board  the  veflel.  The  Doctor  then  proceeds  to  give 
the  following  account  of  the  veflel  after  her  departure 
from  Boullam  :*  "  Capt.  Coxe,  finding  the  water  at 
"  Boullam  unwholefome,  proceeded  with  his  fhip  to 
"Biflao,  where  there  is  a  Portuguefe  fettlement,  fora 
"  fupply.  The  fhip  was  navigated  by  about  twelve  fea- 
"  men,  moft  of  whom  had  not  experienced  ficknefs,  and 
"  had  probably  been  procured  from  Sierra  Leone  :  at 
C£  any  rate  they  were  then  taken  on  board  for  the  firft 
"  time.  Of  thefe,  before  the  return  of  the  Hankey  to 
"  Boullam,  nine  died  ;  and  the  remainder,  with  the 
"  captain,  were  reduced  to  a  deplorable  ftate.  The 
"  time  for  which  the  Hankey  was  chartered  being  ex- 
:t  pired,  Mr.  Paiba,  with  his  family,  intended  to  return 
<c  to  England  in  her ;  but  as  no  feamen  could  be  pro- 
"  cured  they  put  to  fea,  having  on  board  the  captain,  fick, 
'*  and  only  the  mate,  Mr.  Paiba  and  two  feamen  to  navi- 
"  gate  the  fhip.  With  much  difficulty  they  arrived  at 
"  St.  Jago,  where  they  fortunately  found  the  Charon 
lt  and  Scorpion  fhips  of  war.  Capt.  Dodd  of  the  for- 
**  rner,  humanely  rendered  them  every  fervice  in  his 
i£  power,  and  on  leaving  them  put  two  men  of  each  fhip 
;t  on  board  the  Hankey.  With  this  aid  they  proceed- 
*c  ed  to  the  Weft  Indies ;  a  voyage  to  England  being 
£  impracticable  in  their  wretched  ftate.  On  the  third 
"  day  after  leaving  St.  Jago,  the  men  they  procured 
'*  from  the  (hips  of  war  were  feized  with  the  fever,  which 
4  had  carried  uff  three  fourths  of  thofe  on  board  the 
:  Hankey  at  Boullam;  and,  having  no  afliftance,  two 
"  of  the  four  died  :  the  remaining  two  were  put  on 

"  board 

*  Chiftiolm's  Eflay  on  the  Malignant  Peftilential  Fever,  p,  86. 
Fff 


40*  A    TREATISE    ON 

"  board  here  in  the  moft  wretched  (late  poffible,  Capt. 
"  Dodd,  on  his  arrival  at  Barbadoesfrom  the  coaftof  Afri- 
"  ca,  was  ordered  to  convoy  the  homeward -bound  fleet  of 
"  merchantmen.  In  the  execution  of  his  orders  he  came  to 
"  Grenada  on  the  zyth  of  May,  and,  hearing  of  the 
*'  mifchief  which  the  Hankey  had  been  the  caufe  of, 
"  mentioned  that  feveral  of  the  Charon*s  and  Scorpion's 
"  people  were  fent  on  board  the  Hankey  at  St.  Jago>  ta 
lt  repair  her  rigging,  £cc.  that  from  this  circumftance,. 
cc  and  the  communication  which  his  barge's  crew  had 
"  with  that  fbip,  the  peftilence  was  brought  on  board 
"both  ihips;  and  that  of  the  Charon's  crew  thirty 
<c  died,  and  of  the  Scorpion*s,  about  fifteen.  The  Han- 
"  key  arrived  at  the  port  of  St.  George's  (in  Grenada)  on 
"  the  i  Qth  of  February,  in  the  moft  diftrelTed  fituation, 
*4  and  for  a  few  days  lay  in  the  bay,  but  was  afterwards 
C£  brought  into  the  careenage.  From  this  period  are  we 
**  to  date  the  commencement  of  a  difeafe  before,  I  be- 
"  lieve,  unknown  in  this  country,  and  certainly  un- 
<{  equalled  in  its  deftruclive  nature." 

This  account  of  the  introduclion  of  the  fever  (which 
however  is  by  Dr.  Chifholm  accounted  very  different 
from  the  yellow  fever  above  defcribed)  is  fo  clear  and 
diftinft,  that,  at  firft  reading,  it  commands  our  belief. 
It  hath  not,  however,  met  with  uaiverfal  approbation  ; 
and  even  the /<?&*,  for  which  both  parties  appeal  to  Mr. 
Paiba  and  capt.  Dodd,  vary  from  one  another  in  a  fur- 
prifing  manner.  Dr.  Trotter,  in  his  Medicina  Nautica, 
^.  328,  gives  the  following  account :  "  Dr.  Chifliohn 
"  tells  us,  that  the  fhips  of  war  on  the  African  ftation, 
*c  having  fent  men  to  affift  the  Hankey,  after  numbers 
"  had  perifhed  from  the  fever,  received  the  infection  by 
C{  means  of  this  communication,  and  that  in  the  Charon 
*'  thirty  died,  and  fifteen  in  the  Scorpion.  Capt.  Dodd, 
"  who  at  that  time  had  his  broad  pendant  in  the  Cha- 
*e  ron,  now  commands  the  Atlas  of  98  guns  in  the  fleet  5, 
"  Mr.  Smithers,  the  furgeon,  is  at  prefent  in  the  For* 
<£  midable,  a  fecond  rate,  alfo  in  the  fleet ;  from  them  I 
<c  have  copied  the  following  narrative  of  their  tranfac- 
"  tions  with  the  Hankey  : 

«  When 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER. 


403 


"  When  the  fquadron  under  commodore  Dodd 
*'  came  to  St.  Jago  in  1793,  the  Hankey  lay  there  in 
"  great  diftrefs  for  want  of  hands ;  having  buried  above 
"  one  hundred  perfons,  men,  women  and  children,  from 
"  the  time  (he  had  been  at  Bulam.  The  fever  was  now 
"  overcome  :  Mr.  Smithers  faw  two  men  that  had  lately 
u  recovered.  He  left  a  quantity  of  bark.  The  Charon 
<c  and  Scorpion  fent  two  men  each  to  ailift  in  navigating 
"  her  to  the  Weft  Indies.  The  Hankey  at  this  port 
€<  was  cleaned,  wafhed  with  vinegar,  and  fumigated.  N& 
"fever  appeared  in  either  of  the  men  of  war,  in  confe- 
"  quence  of  this  communication  ;  they  arrived  at  Gre- 
"  nada  in  perfect  health,  but  did  not  go  into  the  fame 
.*'  part  of  the  ifiand  to  which  the  Hankey  went.  The 
**  Charon,  at  this  harbour  received  fome  feamen  from 
"  the  merchant  ihips  then  taking  in  cargoes  for  England  $ 
*c  (he  had  afterwards  fourteen  cafes  of  yellow,  fever,  of 
"  which  one  died  :  but  it  is  remarkable  that  the  Scor- 
"  pion  did  not  bury  a  fingle  man  during  the  whole  voy- 
<c  age.*  It  is  probable  from  thefe  facts,  that  the  Han- 
*'  key  did  not  import  the  infection  that  produced  the 
Ci  Grenada  fever  ,  for,  after  the  dijeafe  was  worn  out,  (he 
"  had  a  paffage  to  make  to  the  Weft  Indies  of  many 
"  hundred  leagues.  It  is  alfo  doubtful  how  the  effects 
"  left  in  the  Hankey  could  produce  the  fever,  for  the 
"  bedding  was  thrown  away,  and  what  clothing  remained 
"  had  been  aired,  and  probably  had  fcarcely  been  in 
*c  contact  with  the  body  after  being  fick.J> 

The  difcordance  between  this  and  the  foregoing  ac- 
count is  abundantly  evident.  Dr.  Chifholm's  account 
of  the  bedding,  &c.  is  alfo  very  different.  "  Our  lieu- 
*c  tenant  governor,  Ninian  Home,  efq.  fome  time  after 
"  the  difeafe  became  epidemic,  informed  me,  that,  in 
:c  confequence  of  the  information  he  had  received  of 
"  the  clothes,  &c.  of  the  victims  of  the  fever  at  Boul- 
"  lam  being  ftill  on  board  the  Hankey,  he  ordered  Capt. 
s'  Coxe  to  be  brought  before  him  and  fome  gentlemen 
44  of  the  council.  He  then  acknowledged,  that  all  the 
"  effects  of  thofe  who  had  died  were  then  on  board  his 

"  (hip, 
*  To  this  is  fubjoined  the  attention  «f  M r.  Smithers  with  refpefl  to  the  Charon* 


404  A    TREATISE    ON 

"  (hip,  and  faid  that  he  would  not  deftroy  them,<unlef$ 
"  he  was  indemnified  for  the  lofs  he  might  fuftain, 
1  c  fhould  the  heirs  of  the  deceafed  call  on  him  for  thofe 
cc  effects.  Every  argument  was  ufed  to  induce  him  to 
<c  deftroy  the  articles,  but  the  only  one  which  influences 
<c  a  man  of  this  defcription,  indemnification  ;  and  he  of 
<£  courfe  carried  the  feminium  of  the  difeafe  to  England," 
It  was  this  confideration  which  induced  the  governor  to 
write  to  the  fecretary  offtate,  and  in  confequence  of  his 
reprefentation  thevefTel  was  obliged  to  perform  quaran- 
tine in  England,  a  circumftance  which  Dr.  Trotter 
mentions  without  approbation. 

Thus  far  the  matter  of  faft  feems  to  be  Very  much 
obfcured  ;  and  the  more  we  inveftigate,  the  more  we  are 
involved  in  darknefs.  In  the  Medical  Repofitory,  vol.  i, 
p.  484,  we  find  the  following  fevere  cenfure  paffed  upon 
Dr.  Chimolm  by  the  late  Dr.  Smith  of  New  York  : 
"  It  belongs  to  another  part  of  this  paper  to  aflign  the 
"  probable  motives  of  Dr.  Chifholm  for  maintaining 
"  that  the  fever  was  imported  into  Grenada  :  certain  it 
"  is  that  he  avowed  a  different  opinion  to  Mr.  Paiba,  to 
"  whom  he  freely  declared,  that  he  could  by  no  means 
"  trace  the  difeafe  to  the  Hankey ,  and  that  he  believed 
"  it  to  be  of  local  origin,  owing  to  the  unhealthy  condi- 
"  tion  of  the  careenage,  and  the  particular  prevailing 
"  winds  :  and,  to  confirm  this  notion,  he  informed 
"  Mr.  Paiba  that  a  fimilar  difeafe,  from  the  fame  caufe, 
"  though  in  a  lefs  degree,  had  exifted  in  St.  George's 
<{  fome  years  before." 

This  was  plainly  giving  Dr.  Chimolm  the  lie  ;  which, 
whatever  might  have  been  the  confequence  between  the 
two  parties,  abfolutely  fuperfedes,  to  any  impartial  and 
unconcerned  perfon,  the  evidence  of  both,  at  Jeaft  as  far 
as  regards  the  origin  of  this  difeafe.  It  is  not,  however, 
to  be  fuppofed  that  Dr.  Chifholm  would  pafs  fuch  a  cen- 
fure unnoticed.  He  did  accordingly  reply  in  a  letter  to 
Dr.  Smith,  who  had  fent  him  a  copy  of  the  Repofitory, 
with  a  letter  inviting  him  to  defend  what  he  had  faid. 
Dr.  Smith  died  before  this  letter  reached  him,  but  the 
principal  part  has  appeared  in  the  Medical  Repofitory, 

voh 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER.  405 

vol.  ii,  p.  285.  In  this  Dr.  Chifliolm  retracts  what  he 
had  faid  concerning  the  mortality  on  board  the  Charon 
and  Scorpion  (hips  of  war.  "  I  have  lately  received 
"  (fays  he)  from  a  gentleman  of  the  navy  here,  a  log- 
"  book  of  the  Charon,  kept  by  one  of  her  officers  during 
"  the  voyage  in  queftion.  In  this  I  find,  that  no  fick- 
"  nefs  took  place  in  either  of  thefe  (hips  in  confequence 
"  of  this  interview.  A  log-book  is  unqueftionable 
"  evidence,  and  I  therefore  admit  it."  As  to  the  more 
ferious  part  of  the  charge,  viz.  that  Dr.  Chifliolm  had 
wilfully  rnifreprefented  matters,  the  Dodor  replies,  that 
the  narrative  publifhed  by  him  was  in  general  fuch  as  he 
had  from  Mr.Paiba  ;  not  indeed  in  manufcript,  as  Dr. 
Smith  ftated  his  to  have  been,  but  in  converfation;  and 
that  this  convocation  took  place  expreflly  with  a  view 
to  elucidate  the  caufe  of  the  fever,  which  he  (Dr  Chif- 
holm)  could  not  account  for  by  any  reafoning  from 
local  caufes,  but  heard  it  very  generally  afcribed  to  in- 
fection from  the  Hankey.  Mr.  Paiba  was  introduced 
to  Dr  Chifliolm  at  the  requeft  of  the  latter  by  the  Hon. 
Samuel  Mitchill  now  (the  letter  is  dated  Sept.  6th  1768 
probably  1798)  the  fenior  member  of  the  council  of 
Grenada.  "  Mr.  Mitchill  (fays  the  Doclor)  brought 
*'  Mr.  Paiba  to  my  houfe,  and  was  prefent  during  the 
"  greateft  part  of  the  time  the  converfation  continued. 
*;  1  found  Mr.  Paiba  very  willing  to  give  me  every  infor- 
<e  mation  in  his  power  relative  to  the  ftate  of  the  Bu- 
"  lama  or  Boulam  colony,  and  of  the  fliip  Hankey ; 
"  but  I  found  him  ftrongly  difinclined  to  fall  in  with  the 
"  univerfally  received  opinion,  that  that  fliip  introduced 
*'  the  difeafe.  The  particulars  I  have  given,  are  thofe 
"  Mr.  Paiba  related  to  me  in  this  converfation  ;  and,  in 
*c  order  to  be  correct,  I  immediately,  after  Mr.  Paiba 
"  left  me,  committed  them  to  paper.  Mr.  Paiba  pro- 
"  mifed  to  favour  me  with  a  written  account ;  and  in 
*•'  order  to  direct  that  gentleman's  attention  to  the  points 
"  I  confidered  as  of  moft  importance,  I  drew  up  a  fet  of 
"  queries,  and  Mr.  Mitchill  charged  himfelf  with  the 
"  delivery  of  it.  A  copy  of  thefe  I  have  now  in  my 
"  pofleflion,  and  a  flight  attention  will  exhibit  my  view 

"in 


4otS  A   TREATISE. ON 

"  in  framing  them,  and  foow  the  doubts  refpeding.. the 
"  nature  of  the  epidemic  which  fuggefted  them.  Al- 
46  though  I  repeatedly,  through  Mr.  Mitchill  and  Mr. 
cc  Palmer,  the  gentlemen  with  whom  Mr,  Paiba  refided 
"  in  the  country,  renewtd  my  requeft  to  have  this  pro- 
"  mife  fulfilled,  Mr.  Paiba  left  the  liland  without  gra- 
"  tifying  it.  If  no  other  ftrong  proof  exifted  of  fome- 
"  thing  peculiar  in  the  fever  which  at  that  time  prevail- 
*:  ed,  the  circumftance  of  my  formally  applying  to  Mr. 
"  Paiba  ;for  information  relative  to  the  ftate  of  the 
"  Hankey,  and  of  taking  the  trouble  to  obtain  an  inter- 
*c  view  with  him,  prefents  an  evidence  as  conclufive  as 
"  can  well  be  required  by  reafonable  men.  But  the  be- 
"  lief  of  the  infection  of  the  Haukey  was  univerfat,  nor 
cc  was  it  by  any  means  confined  to  thofe  whole  intereft 
"  might  have  been  affedled  by  the  profperity  of  an  in- 
*'  fant  colony  on  the  coaft  of  Africa/' 

Another  charge  againft  Dr.  Chifholm  is,  that  he  falfi- 
fies  the  date  of  the  Hankey's  .arrival  at  Grenada ;  and 
which  in  Dr  Smith's  paper  is  brought  forward  in  the  fol- 
lowing words :  "  In  p.  91  the  Doctor  remarks,  thaj:,  '  in 
sc  the  fhort  fpace  of  time  from  the  beginning  of  March 
<c  to  the  end  of  May,  200  of  about  500  failors,  who 
<c  manned  the  iliips  in  the  regular  trade,  died  of  this 
**  fever.*  By  this  it  appears  that  the  fever  in  queftion 
^  broke  out  as  early  as  the  beginning  of  March.  The 
*4  difingenuoufnefs  of  this  author  is  particularly  evident 
*'  from  this  quotation,  if  the  period  of  the  commence* 
$<  ment  of  the  difeafe  be  correctly  ailigned  :  and  that  it 
*'  is  fo  is  probable  from  the  difficulty  of  concealing  the 
"  fact ;  as  there  muft  have  been  thoufands  of  witneifes 
^  to  the  progrefs  of  the  fever.  When  therefore  it  was 
fc  thought  proper  to  fix  the  odium  of  introducing  the 
<c  difeafe  upon  the  Hankey  (a  project  of  which  Dr. 
*'  Chifholm  feems  originally  to  have  had  no  idea)  it  be- 
"  came  neceffary  for  him  to  fix  an  earlier  dale  to  her 
"  arrival.  Now,  that  the  Hankey  did  not  arrive  till 
cc  towards  the  latter  end  of  March,  is  verified  by  the 
"  concurring  teftimony  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Paiba,  and  of 
M  Mr.  Bell,  of  this  city  (New  York)  who  happened  to 

"be 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER. 

**  be  in  Grenada  about  that  time,  and  was  perfonal- 
<fi  ly  acquainted  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Paiba  in  that 
"  ifland." 

In  anfwer  to  this  Dr.  Chifholm  repeats  his  declara^ 
tion  that  the  Hankey  arrived  at  Grenada  on  the  i8th 
of  February,  and  not  on  the  I9th  of  March,  as  Dr. 
Smith  (fuppofed  911  the  authority  of  Mr.  Paiba)  had 
ftated.  In  proof  of  this  he  produces  an  inconteftible 
evidence,  viz.  an  extract  from  the  St.  George's  Gazette 
in  Grenada,  of  date  ipth  of  February,  which  begins 
thus :  "  By  the  (hip  Hankey  of  London,  arrived  here 
ytfterday  from  the  ifiand  of  Boulam  on  the  coaft  of  Afri- 
ca, we  are  informed,"  &c.  The  remainder  of  the  ex- 
tract contains  an  account  of  the  exceffive  mortality  on 
board  the  fhips  $  which,  as  it  may  perhaps  be  exagge- 
rated, it  is  needlefs  to  tranfcribe. 

The  next  thing  of  confequence  is  the  deftru&ion  of 
the  bed-clothes  and  effects  of  the  deceafed  ;  of  which 
Dr.  Smith  fays,  '*  Before  the  Hankey  put  to  fea,  all 
"  the  bedding  of  the  fick  was  thrown  overboard  or  de- 
4C  ftroycd  ;  the  (hip  was  warned  from  ftem  to  ftern,  both 
"  above  and  below,  with  fait  water ;  and  the  purifica* 
"  tion  was  completed  by  fumigating  her  with  tar,  pitch 
"  and  gun-powder.  In  this  clean  condition  they  bade 
*'  farewel  to  Bulama  on  the  azd  of  November,  1792  $ 
'<  but,  in  attempting  to  pafs  through  the  channel  near 
"  to  the  entrance  into  the  open  fea,  in  a  dark  and  foggy 
"  night,  they  got  aground  on  a  fand-bank,  upon  the 
"  north  fide  of  the  iSand  of  Formofa  or  Warang,  be- 
"  longing  to  the  Bijugas,  who  are  reprefented  as  canni-* 
<s  bals.  The  extreme  terror  excited  by  this  accident 
"  was  not  calculated  to  improve  the  health  of  the  peo- 
"  pie  on  board  the  Hankey ;  fo  that,  yvhen  it  became 
14  necefTary  to  take  meafures  for  their  fecurity  and  de- 
cc  liverance,  only  four  men  were  found  in  a  condition  to 
GC  do  duty,  and  all  of  thefe  had  intermittents.  With 
'  them,  however,  and  his  lady,  Mr.  Paiba  fet  off,  in  an 
:c  open  boat,  for  Biflao,  to  obtain  afliftance  from  the 
'  Portuguefe  fettlement.  Thither  he  arrived,  rowing 
"  though  rains  and  fogs,  in  a  leaky  boat,  after  being  out 

"  two 


A    TREATISE    ON 

"  two  nights  and  a  day  ;  and  having  obtained  fuch  help 
<e  as  he  could,  returned  to  the  Hankey,  got  her  off,  and 
"carried  her  to  Biflao.  On  the  paflage  there  eight  per- 
"  fons  died  who  belonged  to  this  (hip.  At  Biifao  they 
"  refitted,  and  the  Hankey  was  a  fecond  time  purified  as 
"  completely  as  /Jie  had  been  before  leaving  Bulama." 

In  anfwer  to  all  this  Dr.  Chiftiolm  again  declares,  "  that 
<c  the  bedding  and  effects  of  the  deceafed  were  preserved 
"  on  board  the  Hankey,  and  conftituted  the  feminium 
*c  of  the  infection.  Capt.  William  Liddle,  of  the  (hip 
"  General  Mathew,  faw  them  on  board  ;  and  it  was  in 
<c  confequence  of  that  gentleman's  reprefentation  that 
"  the  lieutenant  governor,  Mr.  Home,  entered  into  a 
"  ftrict  inveftigation  of  the  matter  ;  the  general  refult  of 
"  which  I  have  given  ;  and  the  authenticity  of  it  may  be 
"  depended  on.  Capt.  Liddle  is  now  refident  in  Lon- 
"  don,  and  Mr.  Byles,  the  governor's  fecretary,  is  now 
"  reiident  commiffary  at  Grenada  ;  and  thefe  gentlemen 
*€  will  readily  teftify  to  the  truth  of  my  (latement.  The 
"*  deftructive  articles  I  have  mentioned  were  not  throivn. 
*'  overboard  till  the  Hankey  arrived  in  Grenville  Bay, 
"  when  they  were  deftroyed  at  the  requeft  of  Mr.  Prend- 
"  foot,  the  gentleman  who  chartered  the  (hip  for  Eng- 
"  land. 

Dr.  Chiftiolm  is  likewife  charged  with  having  mif- 
ftated  the  cafe  of  ajjfapt.  Remington,  faid  to  be  the  firft 
who  fuffered  by  the  fever  in  Grenada.  The  words  in 
Dr.  Chifholm's  Eflay  are,  "  A  Capt.  Remington,  an  in- 
44  timate  acquaintance  of  Capt.  Coxe's,  was  the  firft  per- 
"  fon  who  vifited  the  Hankey  after  her  arrival  in  St. 
"  George's  bay.  This  perfon  went  on  board  of  her  in  the 
€C  evening  after  (lie  anchored,  and  remained  three  days  ; 
"  at  the  end  of  which  time  he  left  St.  George's,  and  pro- 
"  ceeded  in  a  drogher  (a  coafting  veflel)  to  Grenville 
*'  bay,  where  his  (hip,  the  Adventure  lay.  He  was  feiz- 
<e  ed  with  the  malignant  peftilential  fever  on  the  paflage  ; 
**c  and  the  violence  of  the  fymptoms  increafed  fo  rapidly, 
"  as,  on  the  third  day,  to  put  an  end  to  his  exiftence." 
In  oppofition  to  this  Dr.  Smith  gives  the  follwing  ftate- 
jnent  from  Mr.  Paiba  :  "  He  (Capt.  Remington)  had 

"  beca 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER*  409 

a  been  all  day  and  all  night  coming  from  Grenville  bay* 
**  and  had  been  wet  through.  He  Hept  on  board  in  his 
"  clothes  j  and  went  in  an  open  boat  the  next  day  back 
46  to  his  fhip  :  enough  to  kill  any  one  in  that  climate.'* 
Dr.  Chiiholm  replies  "  that  the  above  ftatement  is  not 
"  correct,  nor  founded  on  fact  ;  Dr.  Chifliolm's  evidence 
"  for  what  he  faid  was  founded  on  the  information  of 
"  captains  ofveffels,  who  knew  all  the  circumftances  of 
"  his  vifit  to  the  Hankey  ;  and  of  Dr.  Stewart,  an  emi- 
"  nent  practitioner,  who  attended  him  at  Grenville  bay* 
"  when  he  landed  there.  Laftly,  that  the  idea  of  his 
"  having  returned  to  Grenville  bay  in  an  open  boat,  is 
"  abfurd  ;  nothing  of  the  kind  having  been  ever  at- 
"  tempted.** 

From  this  tedious  account  it  is  plain  that  the  evi- 
dence relative  to  the  importation  of  the  fever  into  Gre- 
nada by  the  Hankey  is  quite  contradictory,  and  fubver- 
live  of  itfelf,  becaufe  we  are  unable  to  judge  between 
the  two  difputants.  A  further  confideration  of  it  would 
lead  us  entirely  from  the  fubject  of  this  treatife,  into  an 
endlefs  difpute  about  which  of  the  two  parties  had  fpo- 
ken  the  truth.  Setting  aiide  therefore  the  whole  of  the 
evidence  on  both  fides  as  inefficient,  we  fliall  now  pro- 
ceed to  give  an  account  of  the  fymptoms  of  the  diftem-4 
per  as  defcribed  by  Dr.  Chifholm,  and  to  which  defcrip- 
tion  there  has  never  been  any  objection  made. 

In  the  moft  violent  kind  of  this  fever,  according  to 
our  author,  "  the  patient,  without  any  previous  com- 
:c  plaint,  fuddenly  becomes  giddy  ;  he  lofes  his  eye-fight  j 
c;  everything  feerns  to  move  round  him  with  inconceiva- 
*  ble  velocity  ;  h£  falls  down  almoft  infenfible,  and  in 
"  that  (late  remains  near  half  an  hour,  or  upwards* 
"  Daring  this  paroxyfm  the  body  feels  cold,  and  is  over- 
"  fpread  with  cold  iwcat,  which  iflues  from  every  pore 
"  in  aftonifliing  abundance.  On  his  recovery  the  cold 
"  goes  off,  and  is  inftantly  fucceeded  by  intenfe  heat,  and 
*4  quick,  fmall,  hard  pulfe  j  the  head  achs  dreadfully, 
:e  particularly  the  fore  part ;  generally  accompanied  with 
"  pain  in  the  right  fide  and  at  the  pr^ecordia.  The  lad, 
"  however,  has  never  been  acute,  and  may  rather  be  cal- 
G  g  g  "  led 


4io  A    TREATISE    ON 

*c  led  oppreffion  than  pain.  The  eyes  are  much  inflamed; 
cc  watery,  protruded,  and  wildly  rolling  ;  the  face  much- 
"  fluihed  ;  much  heat  is  felt  at  the  pit  of  the  ftomach, 
"  and  that  organ  feems  to  be  confiderably  affected  by 
"  the  frequent  retching  and  vomiting  which  then  come 
"  on.  The  patient  foon  after  complains  of  intolerable 
"  pains  in  the  (mail  of  his  back  and  in  the  calves  of  his- 
*'  legs  ;  but  the  latter  appears  to  be  moft  violent.  Dur~ 
"  ing  twelve,  eighteen,  twenty-four  or  thirty-fix  hours, 
"  thefe  fymptoms  continue  increafing,  except  the  quick- 
"  nefsand  hardnefsof  the  pulfe,  which  does  not  change 
:c  materially  during  that  time  ;  and  are  then  fucceeded 
cc  by  general  coldnefs,  cold  fweat,  a  greater  or  lefs  degree 
<c  of  coma  and  delirium,  or  a  ftate  very  much  refembling- 
Cft  intoxication.  Life  in  this  ftate  is  lengthened  out  to 
"  fixty  or  ninety  hours  from  the  firft  attack.  A  fhort  in- 
"  terval  of  reafon  then  takes  place  ;  the  patient  confiders 
<c  hirnfelf  better,  and  is,  fora  moment,  flattered  with  the 
"  profpect  of  recovery  :  but  a  fit  as  fudden  and  unex- 
<{  peeled  as  the  firft  comes  on,  during  which  he  foams  g 
"  at  the  mouth,  rolls  his  eyes  dreadfully,  and  throws, 
<c  out  and  pulls  back  his  extremities  in  quick  fucceffion. 
"  In  general  the  patient  expires  in  this  fit  j  but  fome 
"  have  recovered  from  it,  and  continued  rational  for  a 
<c  few  hours  longer,  when  a  fecond  fit  has  carried  them 
«  off." 

This,  without  much  deviation,  was  the  general  pro- 
grefs  of  the  worft  kind  of  the  fever.  In  fome,  however, 
a  comatofe  difpofition  fhowed  itfelf  from  the  very  firft  ; 
in  others  the  difeafe  began  with  fliort  convulfive  fits  in 
frequent  fucceffion,  followed  by  conilan.t  delirium  and 
cold  clammy  fweat,  without  any  intervening  heat.  In 
a  few  cafes  the  firft  fymptoms  were  coldnefs  and  fhiver- 
ing,  as  in  other  fevers. 

The  diftinguiihing  fymptoms  were  the  uncommonly 
fudden  attack,  the  remarkably  acute  pain  in  the  loins  and 
calves  of  the  legs,  the  watery,  inflamed  and  rolling  eye, 
flufhing  of  the  face,  tendency  to  coma,  the  pain  general- 
ly confined  to  the  forehead,  and  the  peculiar  caft  of  the 
delirium,  during  which  the  looks  and  actions  of  the  pa* 

tient 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER.  412 

•tient  very  much  refembled  thofe  of  a  perfon  intoxicated. 
It  was  never  furious  in  any  other  way  than  by  making 
efforts  to  get  out  of  bed  ;  and  thefe  in  a  few  inftances 
rofe  fo  high  that  the  patients  got  up,  dreffed  themfelves, 
and  walked  out  a  confiderable  way  before  they  could  be 
overpowered.  "  The  ftrength  during  the  delirium  is 
"  to  appearance  furprifingly  great,  for  it  is  frequently 
"  neceffary  to  ufe  the  united  efforts  of  two  or  three  men 
*'  to  keep  the  patient  in  bed.  This  is,  however,  no  more 
"  than  a  fpafmodic  affection  of  the  mufcles  ;  for  in  re- 
"  ality  the  powers  of  the  fick  in  this  difeafe  are  reduced 
"  to  the  extreme  of  debility,  as  is  feen  in  the  convalef- 
-"  cent  ftate." 

The  moft  unequivocal  characteriftic  of  this  difeafe, 
liowever,  according  to  our  author,  rs  the  appearance  of 
a  kind  of  petechise,  but  which  look  rather  like  red  or  li- 
vid patches  than  what  is  commonly  underftood  by  that 
word.  They  were  always  the  forerunners  of  death. 
In  a  few  very  violent  cafes  the  body  was  almoft  of  a  livid 
or  black  colour,  but  they  were  generally  feated  on  the 
neck,  (boulders  and  breaft.  Vibices  alfo,  like  thofe  iti 
the  plague,  defcribed  p.  258,  fometimes  made  their  ap- 
pearance, and  were  alfo  a  fatal  prefage. 

Haemorrhage  occurred  much  more  frequent  and  pro* 
fufe  in  this  than  in  any  other  acute  diftemper  our  author 
had  met  with.  <c  In  feveral  inftances,  the  immenfity  of 
"  blood  difcharged  has  evidently  been  the  more  imme- 
"  diate  caufe  of  death.  The  robuft,  plethoric  and  groft 
"  habits  have  been  the  moft  fubject  to  it.  It  has  taken 
"  place  from  the  noftrils,  mouth,  anus,  and  urethra; 
"  fometimes  from  the  canthi  (corners)  of  the  eyes  ;  but 
£C  never,  I  believe,  from  the  ears  or  pores  of  the  fkin. 
"  The  moft  profufe  difcharge  has  been  from  the  noftrils 
<£  and  anus,  and  has  frequently,  amounted  to  three  or 
"  four  pounds  at  a  time;  the  ftools  having  been  on  thofe 
ts  occafions  entirely  compofed  of  pure  blood.  Towards 
"  the  clofe  of  life,  the  blood  thus  difcharged  has  appeared 
"  granulous,  or  like  ichor,  with  a  fediment  of  a  black 
*c  gritty  fubftance,  and  has  been  fo  extremely  offenfive 
*  as  to  oblige  all  the  attendants  to  keep  at  a  confiderable 

"  diftance 


4i2  A    TREATISE   ON 

"  diftance  till  the  hemorrhage  ceafed.  Hemorrhage 
"  however,  has  never  been  critical,  nor  has  it  in  any 
cc  inftance  permanently  relieved  the  head-ach  or  pain  in 
"  the  breaft  or  fide,  .  .  .  Nearly  about  the  period  that 
0  thefe  profufe  difcharges  came  on,  a  rawnefs  was  felt  on 
"  the  whole  of  the  interior  furface  of  the  nofe,  and  on 
"  feveral  parts  of  it  little  ulcers  formed  $  on  ©thers, 
"  fmall  efchars,  which  were  remarkably  itchy,  but  on 
•'  being  touched,  or  an  attehipt  made  to  detach  them 
*c  from  the  membrane  of  the  nofe,  were  very  painful,  and 
"  bled.  Thefe  difappeared  in  proportion  to  the  patient's 
*'  recovery  j  and  I  have  reafon  to  fufpect,  that,  when 
"  the  iffue  of  the  difeafe  was  fatal,  thefe  little  efchars 
*'  became  gangrenous." 

In  this  diftemper  there  was  always  a  tendency  to  coma 
after  the  firft  two  days ;  and  after  the  third,  it  certainly 
came  on.  On  examining  the  heads  of  two  who  died 
convulfed  after  having  been  comatofe  for  fome  time,  a 
great  quantity  of  ferum  was  found  in  the  brain  j  and,  on 
narrowly  infpecYmg  the^eyes  of  thofe  who  were  after- 
wards feized  with  coma,  the  pupil  was  found  manifeftly 
dilated. 

A  remarkable  fymptom  unnoticed  in  any  other  fever 
is  taken  notice  of  by  our  author ;  viz.  an  affection  of  the 
tefticles.  "  About  the  end  of  the  fecond  day  the  pa- 
:c  tient  began  to  complain  of  a  violent  pain  in  thefe  parts, 
"  accompanied  with  a  contraction  of  the  fpermatic  cord, 
"  and  a  drawing  up  of  the  tefticles  towards  the  abdo- 
*c  minal  ring.  On  examination  they  appear  very  much 
"  leflened  in  fize,  are  drawn  up  coniiderably  towards  the 
"  abdomen,  and  the  fcrotum  appears  at  the  fame  time 
"  remarkably  flaccid  and  empty.  The  furfacs  of  the 
"  fcrotum  becomes  foon  after  very  painful,  and  an  exco- 
"  riation  takes  place,  chiefly  at  the  mofl  defcending 
<c  part,  from  which  a  confiderable  quantity  of  very  offen- 
*6  five  purulent  matter  iflues  :  at  the  fame  time  a  fimilar 
"  difcharge  from  the  urethra  takes  place,  which  ceafes 
"  with  the  difeafe  when  the  event  is  favourable,  or  be~ 
61  comes  ichorous  and  bloody,  and  infufferably  fcetid 
€t  when  death  is  the  confequcnce.  In  cafes  which  ter^ 

**  minate 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER.  413 

*  ruinate  favourably,  the  whole  of  the  fcrotum,  in  a  few 
*'  days,  is  covered  with  a  cruft  of  hardened  pus,  which, 
•*'  in  the  convalefcent  flate,  comes  away  very  eafily  by 
*c  means  of  a  warm  bath.  The  thicknefs  of  this  coat 
"  may  be  about  the  fourth  of  a  line ;  and,  when  fepara- 
<c  ted,  it  much  refembles  moiftened  parchment.  In 
"  fatal  cafes,  this  affection  of  the  fcrotum  always  termi- 
"  nates  in  gangrene  a  few  hours  before  death." 

Another  remarkable  fymptom  is  the  change  of  voice 
to  a  (brill,  foft  and  low  found  when  compared  with  the 
natural  tone,  at  the  fame  time  that  the  fyHables  are  more 
diftinguifhed,  and  the  words  are  flrangely  lengthened  out 
in  a  drawling  and  whining  manmer.  This  change  of 
voice  affords  a  pretty  certain  prognoflic ;  every  altera- 
tion towards  the  natural  tone  being  an  almoft  certain 
fign  of  a  favourable  change*  and  the  contrary  if  the 
voice  becomes  farther  removed  from  it. 

The  pains  felt  in  this  fever  were  in  a  great  meafurc 
peculiar  to  it,  and  feem  to  have  been  of  a  fpafmodic  na~ 
jture.  In  the  head  the  pain  fi\ot  from  the  forehead,  to 
which  it  was  confined,  invariably  towards  the  bottom 
of  the  orbits,  where  it  was  generally  exquifite.  Some- 
times it  extended  to  the  temples,  where  'there  was  al- 
ways a  throbbing ;  but  in  no  cafe  did  it  extend  to  the 
back  part,  or  over  the  whole  head.  This  pain  extended 
alfo  to  the  balls  of  the  eyes,  which  were  protruded,  and 
feemed  ready  to  flart  from  their  orbits,  with  an  inflam- 
mation externally,  and  a  fenfation  of  pain  internally,, 
rendering  the  admiflion  of  light  intolerable.  In  the 
legs  the  pain  had  its  feat  at  the  top  of  the  great  tendon^ 
immediately  below  the  calf,  and  in  the  point  where  it 
was  feated  a  gnawing  fenfation  was  felt,  occafioning  ex- 
quifite torture,  with  an  involuntary  contraction  of  the 
limb  3  ib  that,  on  the  whole,  our  author  concludes  that 
this  pain  much  refembles  the  cramp,  differing  only  ii* 
being  more  permanent. 

With  regard  to  the  pulfe,  our  author  obferves,  that 
in  this  difeafe  "  it  never  intermits.  Even  at  the  ap- 
"  proach  of  death  it  has  not  intermitted,  but  has  gene- 
*'  rally  been  remarkably  tremulous,  and  fo  flow  as  to 

«  beat 


A    TREATISE 

€t  beat  no  more  than  thirty  times  in  a  minute.  On  the 
"  whole,  it  has  not  been  found  quicker  than  130,  or 
"  flower  than  30,  in  a  minute."  In  violent  cafes  the 
pulfe  was  hard,  quick  and  final  1,  but  fometimes  full ; 
and  when  it  was  fo  it  was  a  good  fign.  It  was  however 
fubject  to  exceffive  variations ;  and  it  frequently  hap- 
pened, "  efpecially  in  the  robuft,  that,  after  the  firft 
*'  ftage,  flaming  and  chillnefs  have  often  alternated  in 
**  lefs  than  a  minute;  and  that,  although  the  fkin  felt 
*c  confiderably  warm,  the  pulfe  has  been  no  more  than 
"  52  ;  but  that,  even  when  the  low  ftate  came  on,  ia 
*c  which  there  was  always  a  difagreeable  coldnefs  of  the 
*{  furface,  it  has  been  as  quick,  and  nearly  as  full,  as 
<4  during  the  preceding  febrile  ftage,  although  unaceom- 
"  panied  with  thirft,  or  any  other  evident  fymptom  of 
*c  the  exiftence  of  fever." 

In  the  ftate  of  delirium,  Dr.  Chifholm  obferves,  that, 
whatever  was  the  fubjecl:  of  the  patient's  raving  thoughts, 
he  was  always  ftrongly  under  the  impreflion  of  fear ; 
and  a  word  from  the  phyfician  always  reduced  him  to 
implicit  obedience,  however  reftlefs  he  might  have  been 
before.  During  this  ftate  he  complained  of  no  pain, 
even  from  blifters,  nor  was  he  fenfible  of  the  operation 
of  laxative  medicines.  On  being  aiked  about  his  fitu- 
ation,  he  always  anfwered  that  he  was  very  well,  and 
fenfible  of  no  pain,  as  in  the  yellow  fever  already  de- 
fcribed.  It  is  obfervable,  however,  that  the  yellow  co- 
lour, fo  remarkable  in  the  former,  feldom  took  place  in 
the  Boulam  fever;  but  indeed  this  fymptom,  as  has  for- 
merly been  noticed,  is  by  no  means  a  chara&eriftic  ei- 
ther of  the  one  difeafe  or  the  other ;  but  Dr.  Chifholm 
obferves  "  that  in  fome  protracted  cafes  on  fhore,  and  in 
"  fome  among  the  failors,  which  might  have  been  a 
"  combination  of  the  peftilential  and  yellow  fevers,  this 
"  fymptom  appeared  about  the  5th,  jth  or  pth  day." 

Befides  the  petechise  and  vi bices,  already  mentioned, 
Dr.  Chifliolm  takes  notice  of  two  other  forts  of  erup- 
tions, which  appeared  about  the  lips  :  the  one  was  fuch 
as  frequently  appears  at  the  termination  of  the  common 
remittents.,  and  was  favourable ;  the  other  refembling 

fpots 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER.  415 

{pots  made  by  the  fine  black  pencil  of  a  painter,  all 
round  the  mouth,  but  efpecially  the  upper  lip,  and  cer* 
tainly  affording  a  fatal  prognoftic. 

This  difeafe  was  attended  with  a  fuppreffion  of  urine, 
a  violent  pain  above  the  os  pubis,  a  fcalding  in  the  ure- 
thra, a  fenfe  of  fulnefs,  without  any  vifible  fwelling,  a 
contraction  and  diftortion  of  the  penis ;  the  urine  gene- 
rally of  a  deep  red,  fornetimes  brownifh,  green,  very 
often  bloody,  and  in  a  few  cafes  much  inclining  to  black, 
and  of  an  oily  confiftence.  Its  fmell  was  generally  very 
offenfive.  All  the  excretions  were  exceedingly  offenfive, 
but  the  faeces  moft  remarkably  fo  towards  the  latter  end 
of  the  difeafe;  for  in  the  beginning  they  had  no  re- 
markable fcetor.  The  fick  were  almoft  univerfally 
coftive,  which  our  author  fuppofes  to  have  arifen  from  a 
fufpenfion  of  tone  in  the  inteftinal  canal ;  for  by  excit- 
ing action  in  the  fibres  a  large  evacuation  generally  en- 
fued.  The  colour  of  the  feces  varied  from  yellow,  or 
a  yellowifh  white,  to  black;  and  from  a  confiderable 
degree  of  thicknefs,  to  the  exact  appearance  of  coffee- 
grounds.  The  matter  dilcharged  by  vomit  alfo  varied 
from  porraceous  to  black,  and  refembling  coffee  badly 
boiled. 

In  this  difeafe,  as  in  the  plague  defcribed  by  Thucy^ 
dides,  mod  other  difeafes  degenerated  into  it,  or  partook 
of  its  nature.  Dyfenteries  fuddenly  flopped,  and  were 
immediately  fucceeded  by  the  fymptorns  of  peftilentiai 
fever.  A  remarkable  inftance  of  this  is  given  in  twenty- 
feven  recruits,  who  had  been  feized  with  dyfentery,  in 
confequence  of  being  expofed  to  rain,  receiving  the  in- 
fection in  the  hofpital  to  which  they  were  carried.  The 
medicines  exhibited  with  a  view  to  cure  the  dyfentery 
feemed  to  be  attended  with  furprifing  effect ;  but  in  a 
fhort  time  fymptorns  of  peftilentiai  fever  came  on,  even 
in  a  few  hours  after  thofe  of  dyfentery  had  difappeared. 
In  like  manner  catarrhal  complaints  foon  changed  their 
nature.  Convalefcents  from  other  difeafes,  fuch  as  la- 
boured under  chronical  complaints,  particularly  rheuma- 
tiftn  and  inflammation  of  the  liver,  were  particularly 
fubject  to  it.  "  The  puerperal  fever  became  malignant, 

"and 


4iS  A   TREATISE   ON 

11  and  of  courfe  fatal ;  and  even  among  pregnant  negfo 
**  women,  who  might  otherwife  have  had  it  in  the  ufual 
"  mild  degree  peculiar  to  that  defcription  of  people,  many 
"  were  reduced  to  a  very  dangerous  iituatbn  by  it.  In 
"  fhort,  every  difeafe  in  which  the  patient  was  liable  to 
**  infection,  fooner  or  later  affumed  the  appearance,  and 
"  acquired  the  danger,  of  the  peftilential  fever.'* 

This  fever  was  faid  to  be  propagated  from  Grenada 
to  others  of  the  Weft  India  iflands,  and  to  the  United 
States,  where  in  the  fame  year,  1793,  it  raged  with  great 
violence  in  Philadelphia.  Without  entering  into  any 
inquiry  at  prefent  concerning  the  truth  of  this  report,  or 
the  origin  of  the  fever  itfelf,  let  us  fee  whether  from  the 
fymptoms  enumerated  by  Dr.  Rum,  who  hath  written  a 
very  lengthy  difTertation  upon  the  difeafe,  it  wajs  the 
fame  with  the  Boulam  fever  already  defcribed.  Accord- 
ing to  him  the  fever  in  1 793  was  frequently  preceded  by 
"  coftivenefs,  a  dull  pain  in  the  right  fide,  defect  of  ap- 
'*  petite,  flatulence,  perverted  tafte,  heat  in  the  ftomach, 
46  giddinefs  or  pain  in  the  head,  a  dull,  watery,  brilliant, 
"  yellow  or  red  eye,  dim  and  imperfect  vifion,  hoarfe- 
46  nefs,  or  flight  fore  throat,  low  fpirits,  or  unufual  viva- 
t{  city,  a  moifture  on  the  hands,  a  difpofition  to  fweat  at 
*s  nights,  or  after  moderate  exercife,  or  a  fudden  fup- 

"  preffion  of  night  fweats On  entering  a  fick 

"  room  the  phyfician  was  firft  ftruck  by  the  connte- 
"  nance  of  the  patient.  It  was  as  much  unlike  that 
**  which  is  exhibited  in  the  common  bilious  fever,  as  the 
**  face  of  a  wild  animal  is  unlike  that  of  a  domeftic  one. 
"  The  eyes  were  fad,  watery,  and  fo  inflamed  in  fome 
"  cafes  as  to  referable  two  balls  of  fire.  Sometimes  they 
"  had  a  mod  brilliant  or  ferocious  appearance.  The 
"  face  was  fuffufed  with  blood,  or  of  a  dufky  colour,  and 
"  the  whole  countenance  was  dufky  and  clouded.  After 
"  the  loth  of  September,  when  the  determination  of 
"  blood  to  the  brain  became  univerfal,  there  was  a  pre- 
"  ternatural  dilation  of  the  pupil.  Sighing  attended  in 
**  almoft  every  cafe.  The  fkin  was  dry,  and  frequently 

"  of  its  natural  temperature The  pulfe  at  the 

44  beginning  of  the  attack  was  fometimes  full,  tenfe  and 

"  quick, 


TH£  YELLOW  FEVER.        4i7 

^  quick,  but  frequently  weak  ;  fometimes  fo  low  that 
"  it  could  not  be  perceived  without  prefling  the  wrifls  ; 
"  and  fometimes  it  had  no  preternatural  quicknefs.  Iri 
"  many  it  intermitted  after  the  fourth  or  fifth,  and  fome- 
"  times  after  the  fourteenth  ftroke.  In  fome  it  was  ex- 
"  tremely  flow  ;  even  as  low  as  thirty  ftrokes  in  a  mi- 
:c  nute.  The  pulfe  was  alfo  tenfe  and  chorded.  The 
"  flow  intermitting  pulfe  was  obferved  more  frequently 
"  in  children  than  adults,  and  fuppofed  to  proceed  frorn 
"  a  colledtion  of  water  in  the  brain.  Imprefled  witH 
"  this  idea,  I  requefted  Mr.  Coxe,  one  of  my  pupils,  to 
"  aflift  me  in  examining  the  ftate  of  the  eye.  For  two 
"  days  we  difcovefed  no  change  in  it ;  but  on  the  third 
u  day  after  we  began  to  infpect  the  eyes,  we  both  per- 
"  ceived  a  preternatural  dilatation  bf  the  pupils  in  different 
"  patients  j  and  we  feldom  afterwards  faw  an  eye  in 
*'  which  it  was  wanting.  In  Dr.  Say  it  was  attended 
*e  with  fquinting,  a  fymptom  which  marks  a  high  de- 
"  gree  of  a  morbid  affection  of  the  brain.  Had  this 
"  flownefs  or  intermiflion  of  the  pulfe  occurred  only  af- 
:c  ter  ligns  of  inflammation  of  congeftion  had  appeared 
"  in  the  brainy  I  fliould  have  fuppofed  that  it  had  been 
4£  derived  wholly  from  that  caufe  ;  but  I  well  recollect 
"  having  felt  it  Several  days  before  I  could  difcover  the 
£  lead  change  in  the  pupil  of  the  eye.  I  am  forced 
"  therefore  to  call  in  the  operation  of  another  caufe,  to 
*'  aflift  in  accounting  for  this  ftate  of  the  pulfe,  and  this 
"  I  take  to  be  a  fpafmodic  affection^  accompanied  with 
*'  preternatural  dilatation  or  contraction  of  the  heart. 
"  Lieutaud  mentions  this  fpecieS  of  pulfe  in  feveral  pla- 
"  ces,  as  occuring  with  an  undue  enlargement  of  this 
"  mufcle.  Dr.  Ferriar  defcribes  a  cafe,  in  which  a  low, 
'c  irregular,  intermitting  and  hardly  perceptible  pulfe 
<4  attended  a  morbid  dilatation  of  the  heart.  .... 
"  After  the  loth  of  September  this  undefcribable  orfulky 
1(1  pulfe  became  lefs  obfervable,  and^  in  proportion  as 
"  the  weather  cooled,  it  difappeared.  It  was  gradually 
:<  tucceeded  by  a  pulie  fiiil^  tenfe,  quick,  and  as  frequent 
"  as  in  pleurify  or  rheumatifm.  It  differed,  however, 
**  from  a  pleuritic  or  rheumatic  pulfe,  in  imparting  a 

H  h  h  "  very 


418  A    TREATISE    OH 

"  veiy  different  fenfation  to  the  fingers.     No  two  ftrokes 
"  feemed  to  be  exactly  alike.     Its  adion  was  of  a  hob- 

'  bling  nature.  .  .  .  It  was  an  alarming  fymptom.  ,  .  „ 
"  The  pulfe  mod  frequently  leffened  in  its  fulnefs,  and 
<c  became  gradually  weak,  frequent  and  imperceptible 

e  before  death  ;  but  I  met  with  feveral  cafes  in  which  it 
**  was  full,  active,  and  even  tenfe,  in  the  laft  hours  o£ 
"  life. 

"  Hemorrhage?  occurred  in  the  beginning  of  the 
"  diforder,  chiefly  from  the  nofe  and  uterus.  Sometimes 
"  only  a  few  drops  of  blood  diftilled  from  the  nofe.  As 
"  the  difeafe  advanced,  the  difcharges  of  blood  became 
"  univerfal.  They  occurred  from  the  gums,  ears,  fto- 
ic  mach,  bowels,  and  urinary  pafTages.  Drops  of  blood 
"  iffued  from  the  inner  canthus  of  the  left  eye  of  Mr. 
"  Jofiah  Coates.  Dr.  Woodhoufe  attended  a  lady  who 

c  bled  from  the  holes  of  her  ears  which  had  been  made 
"  for  ear-rings.  Many  bled  from  the  orifices  which  had 
"  been  made  in  performing  venefection,  feveral  days  af- 
M  ter  they  appeared  to  have  been  healed  ,  and  fome  from 
"  wounds  in  veins  made  in  unfuccefsful  attempts  to  draw 
"  blood.  Thefe  laft  were  very  troublefome,  and  in  fome 
"  cafes  precipitated  death.  .  .  . 

"  I  was  furprifed  to  find  fo  few  marks  of  hepatic  af* 
"  feclion.  I  met  with  but  two  cafes  in  which  the  pa- 
"  tient  could  lie  only  on  the  right  fide.  Many  com- 
*'  plained  of  a  dull  pain  in  the  region  of  the  liver,  but 
"  very  few  complained  of  that  forenefs  to  the  touch,. 
"  about  the  pit  of  the  ftomach,  which  is  taken  notice  of 
"  by  authors,  and  which  was  univerfal  in  the  yellow  fe- 
"  ver  of  1762.  In  proportion  as  the  cool  weather  ad- 
"  vanced,  a  preternatural  determination  of  the  blood 
"  took  place  to  the  brain  and  lungs.  Many  were  affect- 
"  ed  with  pneumonic  fymptoms,  and  fome  appeared  ta 
*'  die  of  fudden  cffufions  of  blood  or  ferum  in  the  lungs, 
"  .  .  .  The  difeafe  feldom  appeared  without  nauiea  or 
"  vomiting.  In  fome  cafes  they  both  occured  for  fe- 
<c  veral  days,  or  a  week,  before  any  fever  took  place. 
"  This  was  more  frequently  the  cafe  where  the  difeafe 
"  was  taken  by  exhalation  from  the  putrid  coffee >  than  by 

^  jwtayon. 


" 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER;  419 

- 

"  tontagion.  The  ftomach  was  fo  extremely  irritable  as 
"to  reject  drinks  of  every  kind.  Sometimes  green  or 
"  yellow  bile  was  rejected  on  thefirft  day  of  the  difon 
"  but  I  much  oftener  faw  it  continue  for  two  days  with- 
"  out  difcharging  any  thing  from  the  ftomach,  but  the 
"  drinks  which  the  patient  had  taken.  If  the  fever  in 
"  any  cafe  came  on  without  vomiting,  or  if  it  had  been 
checked  by  remedies  that  were  ineffectual  to  remove  it 
altogether,  it  generally  appeared  or  returned  on  the 
"  4th  or  5th  day  of  the  diforder.  I  dreaded  this  fymp- 
"  torn  on  thofe  days  y  for,  though  it  was  not  always  the 
"  forerunner  of  death,  yet  it  generally  rendered  the  reco- 
"  very  more  difficult  and  tedious.  In  fome  cafes  the 
<c  vomiting  was  more  or  lefs  conftant  from  the  beginning 
*'  to  the  end  of  the  diforder,  whether  it  terminated  in 
"  life  or  death.  The  vomiting  which  came  on  about 
:£  the  4th  or  5th  day  was  accompanied  with  a  burning 
;c  pain  in  the  region  of  the  ftomach.  It  produced  great 
*'  anxiety  and  toffing  of  the  body  from  one  part  of  the 
*  bed  to  another.  In  fome  cafes  this  painful  burning 
"  occured  before  any  vomiting  took  place.  Drinks  were 
"  now  rejected  fo  fuddenly  as  often  to  be  difcharged 
4S  over  the  hand  that  lifted  them  to  the  head  of  the  pa- 
*'  tient.  The  contents  of  the  ftomach  were  fometimes 
;c  thrown  up  with  a  convulfive  motion  which  propelled 
:t  them  in  a  ftream  to  a  great  diftance,  and  in  fome  ca- 
"  fes  all  over  the  clothes  of  the  by-ftanders.  ...  On 
"  the  firft  and  fecond  days  many  puked  from  half  a 
ct  pint  to  nearly  a  quart  of  yellow  or  green  bile.  In 
"  four  (three  of  whom  recovered)  the  bile,  even  at  this 
"  time,  was  black.  On  the  4th  or  5th  day  a  matter  re- 
"  fembling  coffee-grounds  was  difcharged.  .  .  .  Many 
"  recovered  in  whom  this  fymptorn  appeared.  Towards 
"  the  clofe  of  the  difeafe  there  was  a  difcharge  of  a  deep 
:(  or  pale-coloured  black  matter,  with  flaky  fubftances 
"  frequently  fwimming  on  the  top  of  it." 

A  quantity  of  grumous  blood,  dark  coloured  on  the 
outfide,  was  frequently  difcharged  by  vomit  towards  the 
end  of  the  difeafe;  and,  along  with  all  the  difcharges 
fcomjhe  ftomach,  there  was  occafionally  a  large  worm, 

and 


A    TREATISE    ON 

and  frequently  large  quantities  of  mucus  and  tough 
phlegm.  Our  author  fuppofes  the  black  blood  and 
coffee-coloured  matter  to  be  different  from  that  which 
conftitutes  the  true  black  vomit.  This  laft  he  fuppofes 
to  arife  in  fome  cafes  from  matter  formed  in  confequence 
of  a  mortification  of  the  flomach. 

The  bowels  were  generally  coflive,  fometimes  with 
extreme  pain,  tenefmus,  and  mucous  and  bloody  dif* 
charges.  Sometimes  the  difeafe  came  on  with  diarrhoea, 
principally  in  thofe  who  had  weak  bowels.  Sometimes 
there  was  a  tendon  of  the  abdomen,  with  pain  in  the 
lower  part  of  it.  Flatulency,  chiefly  in  the  ftomach,  was 
almoft  univerfal  in  the  diforder  throughout  all  its  ftages. 

The  colour  and  confidence  of  the  fceces  was  various 
according  to  the  mode  of  treatment  the  patient  had  un- 
dergone. Where  they  were  fpontaneous,  or  brought 
away  only  by  gentle  purgatives,  their  appearance  was 
natural ;  but  when  the  patient  was  ftrongly  purged,  they 
were  dark-coloured,  foetid,  and  in  large  quantity.  The 
colour  was  fometimes  green,  fometimes  olive.  Their 
foetor  was  proportioned  to  the  time  they  had  been  de- 
tained in  the  bowels.  In  one  cafe,  where  tonics  had 
been  ufed,  and  the  patient  had  no  ftool  for  feveral  days, 
a  purge  produced  fuch  an  exceffively  foetid  difcharge, 
that  the  fmell  produced  fainting  in  an  old  woman  who 
attended.  Their  acrimony  was  fo  great  that  the  re<flum 
was  excoriated,  and  an  exteniive  inflammation  fometimes 
produced  round  its  extremity.  In  fome  cafes  the  ftools 
were  as  white  as  in  the  jaundice.  Large  round  .worms 
were  frequently  difcharged  with  them. 

The  urine  in  this  difeafe  was  fometimes  plentiful  and 
high-coloured,  fometimes  clear,  and  fometimes  turbid  ; 
fometimes  difcharged  with  a  burning  pain,  as  in  a  go- 
norrhoea y  fometimes  it  was  fupprefled  ;  and  in  one  cafe 
the  patient  voided  feveral  quarts  of  limpid  urine  juft 
before  he  died. 

Many  were  relieved  on  the  firft  day  by  fweats,  fome- 
times fpontaneous,  and  fometimes  produced  by  diluting 
drinks,  or  (Irong  purges;  fometim-es  of  a  yellow  colour, 
and  offeniive  fmell.  Sometimes  they  were  cold,  though 

the 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER,  421 

tfre  pulfe  was  full  at  the  fame  time.  In  general,  how- 
ever, the  fkin  was  dry,  and  there  were  but  few  inflances 
of  the  difeafe  terminating  by  fweat  after  the  third  day. 
In  fome  there  was  a  great  difcharge  of  mucus  from  the 
throat,  occafioning  an  almoft  conftant  hawking  and 
fpitting  ;  and  thofe  always  recovered. 

In  this  fever,  as  in  that  of  Boullam,  and  in  the  true 
plague,  people  fometimes  fell  down  fuddenly  in  apo- 
plexy, fyncope  or  univerfal  convulfions.  Some  had 
numbnefs  and  immobility  of  their  limbs.  Some  had  a 
coma  (a  continual  fleepinefs)  or  an  obflinate  wakeful- 
nefs ;  the  latter  chiefly  attended  a  (late  of  convalefcence. 
In  fome  the  diftemper  began  with  a  violent  cramp  in 
the  legs  or  arms.  The  laft  Itage  was  attended  with  a 
ftrong  hiccup,  which  was  a  very  dangerous  fymptom,  as 
indeed  it  is  in  all  fevers.  In  fome  cafes  there  was  a  de- 
ficiency of  fenfibilty,  in  others  too  much,  fo  that  the 
mere  motion  of  the  limbs  was  attended  with  pain. 

In  this,  as  in  the  Boullam  fever,  the  patient  often  ma- 
nifefled  a  confiderable  degree  of  ftrength,  even  without 
any  delirium.  One  of  Dr.  Rufh's  patients  flood  up 
before  a  looking-glafs,  and  fhaved  himfelf,  the  day  on 
which  he  died.  A  delirium,  however,  was  common, 
alternating  in  fome  cafes  with  the  exacerbations  and  re- 
wijjions  of  the  fever,  but  in  fome  continuing  without 
intermiffion  to  a  few  hours  before  death.  Some  had 
maniacal  fymptoms,  without  any  appearance  of  fever ; 
but  in  many  the  underflanding  was  not  impaired 
throughout  the  whole  courfe  of  the  difeafe. 

In  this  difeafe  the  pains  in  almoft  every  part  of  the 
body  were  very  diftrefTing.  In  thofe  cafes,  however, 
"  where  the  fyilem  funk  under  the  violent  smprefllon  of 
the  contagion,  there  was  little  or  no  pain."  In  other 
cafes  the  patients  were  diftrefTed  with  pains  in  their  head, 
particularly  affecling  the  eyeballs.  Sometimes  it  ex- 
tended from  the  back  down  the  neck.  A  pain  was  felt 
in  the  ears,  as  if  they  were  drawn  together  by  firings. 
The  fides,  flomach,  liver  and  bowels  were  all  afTeded. 
A  burning  pain  in  the  flomach  was  fometimes  fo  excef- 
fiye  that  the  patient  fhrieked  out  violently.  The  back 

was 


A  TREATISE    ON 

was  often  the  feat  of  violent  pain,  which  fometimes  ex- 
tended from  the  back  to  the  thighs ;  and  the  arms  and 
legs  were  fometimes  affected  in  fuch  a  manner  that  one 
patient  faid  his  limbs  felt  as  if  fcraped  with  a  (harp 
inftrument. 

The  thirft  was  generally  moderate,  but  fometimes 
otherwife ;  and,  when  exceffive  thirft  came  on  in  the 
laft  ftage  of  the  diforder,  it  was  a  dangerous  fymptom. 
Water  was  preferred  to  all  other  drinks.  The  appetite 
for  food  returned  much  fooner  in  this  than  in  other 
fevers,  and  was  excefiively  keen.  Coffee  was  relifhed  in 
the  remiflions,  in  every  ftage  of  the  diforder.  Wine  was 
difliked,  but  malt-liquors  were  agreeable.  In  fome 
cafes  the  recovery  was  attended  with  a  great  propenfity 
to  venery,  as  in  the  true  plague,  but  in  an  inferior  de- 
gree. 

In  fome  cafes  the  difeafe  was  attended  with  buboes 
and  glandular  fwellings.  "  Imet  with  three  cafes  (fays 
"  our  author)  of  fwellings  in  the  inguinal,  two  in  the  pa- 
<c  rotid,  and  one  in  the  cervical  glands  :  all  thefe  patients 
"  recovered  without  any  fuppuration  of  their  fwellings. 
*'  They  were  extremely  painful  in  one  cafe,  in  which  no 
*'  rednefs  or  inflammation  appeared.  In  the  others  there 
:t  was  confiderable  inflammation,  and  but  little  pain. 

"  Several  cafes  of  carbuncles,  fuch  as  occur  in  the 
<c  plague,  came  under  my  notice.  They  were  large,  hard 
"  fwellings  on  the  limbs,  with  a  black  apex,  which,  upon 
^  being  opened,  difcharged  a  thin,  dark-coloured,  bloody 
"  matter.  From  one  of  thefe  malignant  fores  an 
*a  haemorrhage  took  place,  which  precipitated  the  death 
a  of  an  amiable  lady.  A  large  and  painful  anthrax  on 
**  the  back  fucceeded  a  favourable  iffue  of  the  fever  in 
"  another  patient.  I  met  with  a  woman  who  (bowed 
"  me  the  marks  of  a  number  of  fmall  boils  on  her  face 
*c  and  neck,  which  accompanied  her  fever.  .  .  .  Not- 
<c  withftanding  the  difpofition  to  cutaneous  eruptions  in 
"  this  diforder,  it  was  remarkable  that  blifters  were  much 
**  lefs  difpofed  to  mortify  than  in  the  common  nervous 
"  fever.  Such  was  the  infenfibility  of  the  fkin  in  fome 
**  people,  that  blifters  made  no  imprefiion  upon  it.  ... 

"In 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER.  423 

v  In  every  cafe  of  this  diforder  which  came  under  my 
**  notice,  there  were  evident  remifllons  or  intermifiions 
<c  of  the  fever,  or  fuch  fymptoms  as  were  fubftituted  for 
«  fever." 

The  yellow  colour  rarely  appeared  before  the  third 
day,  and  generally  about  the  fifth  or  feventh  day.  The 
eyes  were  not  always  affected  with  this  colour.  Some- 
times it  appeared  firft  on  the  neck  and  breaft  ;  and  in 
one  cafe  it  appeared  behind  the  ears  and  on  the  crown 
of  the  head,  which  had  been  bald  for  fome  years.  It 
varied  in  the  deepnefs  of  the  tint,  and  fometimes  difap- 
peared  altogether  5  but,  though  fome  cafes  of  great 
malignity  and  danger  appeared  without  any  yellownefs, 
it  was  always  a  dangerous  fymptom  when  it  appeared  early. 
The  caufe  of  this  yellownefs  is  by  our  author  fuppofed 
to  be  an  abforption  and  mixture  of  the  bile  with  the 
blood. 

After  death  the  body  .appeared  of  a  deep  yellow 
colour,  fometimes  a  few  minutes  after  death ;  fome- 
times it  was  purple  or  blacky  and  in  one  cafe  yellow 
above,  and  black  below,  the  middle.  In  fome  it  was 
pale,  as  in  common  difeafes,  and  many  died  with  a 
placid  countenance  as  in  natural  fleep.  In  fome  the 
body  grew  cold  foon  after  death,  in  others  not  till  fix  hours 
afterwards,  and  in  like  manner  fiiffnefs  occurred  fome* 
times  in  one  hour,  in  others  not  till  fix.  Where  eva- 
cuations had  been  procured,  fymptoms  of  putrefcence 
were  longer  in  making  their  appearance  than  in  thofe 
who  had  ufed  no  medicines  for  that  purpofe.  Many 
difcharged  large  quantities  of  black  matter  from  the 
bowels,  others,  of  blood  from  the  nofe,  mouth  and 
bowels. 

£i  The  morbid  appearances  of  the  internal  parts  of  the 
"  body  (fays  the  Doctor)  as  they  appear  by  difledtioa 
"  after  death,  from  the  yellow  fever,  are  different  indif- 
44  ferent  countries  and  in  different  years."  Dr.  Mitchill, 
in  his  hiftory  of  the  yellow  fever  in  Virginia,  in  1737  and 
1741,  informs  us,  that,  in  a  female  flave  of  forty,  the 
gall-bladder  was  outwardly  of  a  deep  yellow,  but  with- 
in, full  of  a  black,  ropy,  coagulated  atrabitis  (black  bile) 

obftruding 


424  A    f REAtlSE    ON 

obftructing  the  biliary  ducts.  It  was  fo  thick,  that  if 
retained  its  figure  when  the  gall-bladder  was  opened, 
It  more  refembled  bruifed  and  mortified  blood  than  bile, 
though  it  would  (lain  a  knife  or  probe  of  a  yellow  colour. 
Two  thirds  of  the  iiver  on  its  concave  furfaee  were  of  a 
deep  black  colour,  and  round  the  gall-bladder  it  feemed 
to  be  mortified  and  corrupted.  A  vifcid  bile,  like  that 
juft  defcribed,  was  found  in  the  duodenum  near  the  gall- 
bladder. The  villous  coat  being  taken  off,  the  other 
parts  were  found  red  and  inflamed.  The  whole  was  lined 
with  a  thick  fur  or  ilime.  The  omentum  was  fo  much 
walled,  that  nothing  but  its  blood-veifels  could  be  per- 
ceived. The  ftomach  appeared  to  be  diftended  or  fwel- 
}ed,  lined  like  the  duodenum,  containing  a  quantity  of 
bile  even  blacker  than  that  in  the  bladder.  It  was  in- 
fiamed  both  on  the  outiide  and  infide.  The  lungs  were 
inflated  and  all  full  of  black  or  livid  fpots  ;  and  on  thefe 
fpots  were  fmall  blifters  like  thofe  of  an  eryiipelas  or 
gangrene,  containing  a  yellow  humour.  The  blood-vef- 
fels  in  general  were  empty  ;  only  the  vena  portarum 
feemed  full  and  diftended  as  ufual.  On  cutting  the 
found  part  of  the  liver,  the  lungs  or  the  fpleen,  blood 
iffued  freely. 

Dr.  Mackittrick  found  the  liver  fphacelated,  the  gall- 
bladder full  of  black  bile,  and  the  veins  tinged  with  a 
black  fluid  blood.  In  all  cafes  the  ftomach,  duodenum 
and  ilium  were  remarkably  inflamed.  The  pericardium 
contained  a  vifcid  yellow  ferum,  and  in  larger  quantity 
than  ufual.  The  urinary  bladder  a  little  inflamed  3  the 
lungs  found. 

Dr.  Hume,  of  Jamaica,  found  the  liver  enlarged  and 
turgid  with  bile,  and  of  a  pale  yellow  colour  ;  the  fto- 
mach and  duodenum  fometimes  inflamed  j  and,  in  one 
cafe,  the  former  had  black  fpots  of  the  fize  of  a  crown- 
piece.  He  had  feen  fome  bodies  in  which  there  was  no 
appearance  of  inflammation  of  the  ftomach,  though  the 
patients  had  been  afflicted  with  exceflive  vomiting. 

Dr.  Lind's  account  is  given  p.  394. 

Drs.  Fhyiic  and  Carthrall,  of  Philadelphia,  found  the 
brain  in  a  natural  ftate  $  the  vifcera  of  the  thorax  per* 

feftly 


Ttffe  YELLOW  FEVER.  42$ 

feftly  found  ;  the  blood  in  the  heart  and  veins  fluid, 
Similar  in  its  confidence  to  the  blood  of  perfons  who 
have  been  hanged,  or  deftroyed  by  electricity.  "  The 
*  ftomach  and'  beginning  of  the  duodenum  are  the  parts 
"  that  are  moft  difeafed.  In  two  perfons,  "who  died  of 
"'  the  difeafe  on  the  5th  day,  the  villous  membrane  of 
"  the  ftomach,  efpecially  about  its  fmaller  end,  was  found 
**  highly  inflamed  ;  and  this  inflammation  extended 
"  through  the  pylorus  into  the  duodenum  fom-e  way* 
"  The  inflammation  here  was  extremely  fimilar  to  that 
"  induced  in  the  ftomach  by  acrid  poifons,  as  by  ar- 
"  fenic,  which  we  have  once  had  an  opportunity  of  fee- 
"  ing  in  a  perfon  deftroyed  by  it.  The  bile  was  of  its 
cc  natural  colour,  but  very  vifeid." 

In  others  the  ftomach  was  fpotted  with  extravafated 
blood  ;  and  it  contained,  as  well  as  the  inteftines,  a  black 
liquor  like  that  which  had  been  vomited  and  purged  be- 
fore death.  The  gentlemen  were  of  opinion  that  this 
muft  have  been  a  fecretion  from  the  liver,  as  a  fluid  of 
the  fame  kind  was  found  in  the  gall-bladder,  of  fuch  an 
acrid  nature  that  it  inflamed  the  operator's  hands,  arid 
the  inflammation  lafted  fome  days.  The  liver  was  of  its 
natural  appearance,  or  nearly  fo.  Thefe  difle&ions  were 
made  early  in  the  feafon  ;  and  at  that  time  Dr.  Rufh  is 
of  opinion  that  the' difeafe 'was  not  attended  with  any 
congeftion  in  the  brain,  though  it  was  fo  afterwards  ; 
and  accordingly  we  are  informed  that  Dr.  Annan  at- 
tended a  diflcdion  at  Bufh-hill,  in  which  the  veflels  of 
the  brain  were  remarkably  turgid.  Dr.  Rufh,  however, 
is  likewife  of  opinion,  that  the  morbid  appearances  in 
the  brain  may  ceafe  after  death,  as  well  as  the  fuffufion 
of  blood  in  the  face  difappears  after  the  retreat  of  the 
blood  from  the  extremities  of  the  veflels  in  the  iaft  mo- 
ments of  life.  tc  It  is  no  new  thing  for  morbid  affections 
>s  of  the  brain  to  leave  either  -flender  or  no  marks  of  dif- 
£t  eafe  after  death.  Dr.  Quin  has  given  a  difledion  of 
;t  a  child  that  died  with  all  the  fymptoms  of  hydrocepha- 
"  ius  internus,  and  yet  nothing  was -4iftingui (lied  in  the 
«*  brain  but  a  flight  turgefcence  of  the  blood-veflels. 
:t  Pr,  Girdleftone  fays,  that  no  injury  appeared  in  the 

Hi  *'  brains 


426  A    TREATISE    ON 

"  brains  of  thofe  perfons  who  died  of  the  fymptomajic 
"  apoplexy  which  occurred  in  a  fpafmodic  difeafe  which 
"  he  defcribes  in  the  Eaft  Indies  ;  and  Mr.  Clark  in- 
"  forms  us  that  the  brain  was  in  a  natural  ftate  in  every 
*'  cafe  of  death  from  puerperal  fever,  notwithflanding  it 
*c  feemed  to  be  affefted  in  many  cafes  foon  after  the  at- 
«  tack  of  the  diforder." 

With  regard  to  the  ftate  of  the  blood  in  this  diftem- 
per,  Dr.  Rum  fays,  that  when  drawn  from  a  vein,  it  was, 
"  i.  In  the  greateft  number  of  cafes,  denfe,  and  of  a 
"  fcarlet  colour,  without  any  feparation  into  craiTamen- 
"turn  and  ferum.  2.  In  many  cafes  it  did  feparate  in* 
Cfi  to  crafiamentum  and  yellow  ferum.  3.  In  a  few  ca^ 
<c  fes  the  ferum  was  of  a  natural  colour.  4.  There  were 
"  many  cafes  in  which  the  blood  was  as  fizy  as  in  pneu- 
"  mony  and  rheumatifm.  5.  In  fome  inftances  the 
"  blood  was  covered  with  a  blue  pellicle  of  fizy  lymph, 
"  while  the  part  which  lay  in  the  bottom  of  the  bowl 
"  was  diflblved.  In  two  cafes  the  jymph  was  mixed 
"  with  green  ftreaks.  6.  It  was  in  a  few  inftances  of  a 
"  dark,  colour,  and  as  fluid  as  molaffes.  Both  this  and 
"  the  5th  kind  of  blood  occurred  chiefly  where  bleeding 
"  had  been  omitted  altogether,  or  ufed  too  fparingly,  in 
"  the  beginning  of  the  diforder.  7.  In  fome  patients 
"  the  blood  in  the  courfe  of  the  difeafe  exhibited  nearly 
C£  all  the  appearances  which  have  beea  mentioned, 
"  They  were  varied  by  the  time  in  which  the  blood  was 
"  drawn,  and  by  the  nature  and  force  of  the  remedies 
"  which  had  been  ufed  in  the  diforder/' 

From  this  account  of  the  different  appearances  of  the 
blood,  it  appears  to  have  varied  at  the  very  firft  attack 
from  an  healthy  ftate,  and  to  have  gradually  deviated 
from  that  ftate  more  and  more,  as  the  difeafe  advanced. 
Dr.  Rufli  fays,*  from  Dr.  MitchuTs  Hiftory  of  the  Yel- 
low Fever  in  Virginia,  in  1741,  that  cc  blood  drawn 
"  from  a  vein  was  always  diffolvecL  The  fame  ftate  of 
"  the  blood  was  obferved  in  many  perfons  who  had  been 
"  expofed  to  the  .contagion,  who  difcovered  no  other 
*'  fymptom  of  the  difeafe."  In  p.  70  Dr,  Rufh 

gives 

*  Account  of  tie  Bilious  Remitting  Fever,  &c.  p.  i«$. 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER.  4*7 

gives  his  own  opinion  in  the  following  words  :  "  I  fhal! 
fay,  hereafter,  that  the  blood  was  feldom  diflblved 
in  this  fever;"  and  p.  73,  fpeaking  particularly  of  the 
blood,  he  enters  into  an  argumentation  againft  the 
putrefcency  of  that  fluid.  "It*1  (the  blood)  fays  he, 
"  has  been  fuppofed  to  undergo  a  change  from  a  healthy 
"  to  a  putrid  ftate ;  and  many  of  the  fymptoms  which 
"  have  been  defcribed,  particularly  the  haemorrhages  and 
*'  eruptions  on  the  fkin,  have  been  afcribed  to  this  fup- 
"  pofed  putrefaction  of  the  blood.  It  would  be  eafy  to 
"  multiply  arguments  to  prove  that  no  fuch  thing  as 
"  putrefaction  can  take  place  in  the  blood  ;  and  that 
"  the  fymptoms  which  have  been  fuppofed  to  prove  its 
"  exiftence  are  all  effects  of  a  fudden,  violent  and  rapid 
"  inflammatory  action,  or  preffure  upon  the  blood-vef- 
*'  fels  ;  and  hence  the  external  and  internal  hsemorrha- 
"  ges.  The  petechise  on  the  lurface  of  the  fkin  depend 
"  on  the  fame  caufe.  They  are  nothing  but  effufions 
"  of  ferum  or  red  blood,  from  a  rupture  or  preternatu- 
"  ral  dilatation  of  the  capillary  vefTels.  The  fmell  emit- 
"  ted  from  perfons  affected  with  this  difeafe  was  far  from 
"  being  of  a  putrid  nature  $  and,  if  this  had  been  the 
"  cafe,  it  would  not  have  proved  the  exiftence  of  putre- 
"  faction  in  the  blood  ;  for  a  putrid  fmell  is  often  dif- 
**  charged  from  the  lungs,  and  from  the  pores  in  fweat^ 
"  which  is  wholly  unconnected  with  a  putrid,  or  per- 
**  haps  any  other  morbid,  ftate  of  the  blood.  There  are 
"  plants  which  difcharge  an  odour  which  conveys  to  the 
f  nofe  a  fenfation  like  that  of  putrefaction  ;  and  yet 
:c  thefe  plants  exift  at  the  farne  time  in  a  ftate  of  moft 
"  healthy  vegetation  :  nor  does  the  early  putrid  fmell  of 
"  a  body  which  perifhes  with  this  fever  prove  a  putrid 
k  change  to  have  taken  place  in  the  blood  before  death „ 
*'  All  animals  which  die  fuddenly,  and  without  lofs  of 
"  blood,  are  difpofed  to  a  fpeedy  putrefaction.  This 
*'  has  long  been  remarked  in  animals  that  have  been  kil* 
*c  led  after  a  chace,  or  by  lightning.  The  poifon- 
"  ous  air  called  fame!,  which  is  defcribed  by  Chardin, 
<c  produces,  when  it  deftroys  life,  inftant  putrefaction. 
**'  The  bodies  of  men  who  die  of  violent  pafllons,  or  af« 

"  ter 


42$  A    TREATISE    ON 

"  ter  (Irong  convulfions,  or  even  after  great  ihufcukr 
"  exertion,  .putrefy  in  a  few  hours  after  death.  The 
"  healthy  ftate  of  the  body  depends  upon  a  certain  (late 
*c  of  arrangement  in  the  fluids.  A  derangement  of  thefe 
"  fluids  is  the  natural  confequence  of  the  violent  and  ra- 
:c  pid  motions,  or  of  the  undue  preflure  upon  the  folids, 
"  which  have  been  mentioned.  It  occurs  in  every  cafe 
"  of  death  from  indirect  debility,  whether  it  be  induced 
"  by  the  exceffive  ftimulus  of  contagion,  by  the  volatile 
;t  vitriolic  acid  which  is  fuppofed  toconftitute  the  deftruc-r 
"  t\ve  famiel  wind,*  or  by  violent  commotions  excited  in 
:t  the  body  by  external  or  internal  caufes.  The  practice  a- 
''  moiig  fifhermen  in  feme  countries  of  breaking  the  heads 
''  of  their  fi(h  as  foon  as  they  are  taken  out  of  the  water, 
^  in  order  to  retard  their  putrefaction,  proves  the  truth 
"  of  the  explanation  I  have  given  of  its  caufe  foon  after 
*c  dearth.  The  fudden  extinction  of  life  in  the  fim  pre- 
"  vents  thofe  convulfive  or  violent  motions  which  induce 
<c  fudden  dif organization  in  their  bodies.  j[t  was  re- 
"  markable  that  putrefaction  took  place  mod  fpeedily 
<c  after  death  from  the  yellow  fever,  where  the  commo~ 
"  tions  of  the  fyftem  were  not  relieved  by  evacuations. 
"  In  thofe  cafes  where  purges  and  bleeding  had  been 
c<  uied  it  was  much  flower.  There  is  a  fact  mentioned 
"  by  Dr.  Ferriar,  from  Dr.  Hamilton,  late  profeffbr  of 
"  anatomy  at  Glafgow,  which  may  feem  at  firft  to  milU 
*c  tateagainft  the  facts  I  have  mentioned.  He  lays  that 
<c  he  had  obferved  that  bodies  which  were  brought  into  the 
"  diffecting  room  that  had  pe  tech  is  on  them  were 
"  longer  in  putrefying  than  any  others.  The  fevers  of 
"  which  the  poor  (the  common  fubjects  of  direction) 
"  die,  are  generally  of  the  low  nervous  kind.  Great  di- 
c;  -t  eft  debility  is  the  characterise  of  thofe  fevers.  The 
'  petechi^e  which  occur  in  them  appear  in  the  laft  flage 
this  direct  debility.  They  are  the  effect,  not  of 
"  too  much  impetus  in  the  blood,  as  in  the  yellow  fever, 
"  but  of  a  defect  or  total  abfence  of  it  in  the  laft  hours  of 
"  life.  The  flow  progrefs  of  the  body  to  putrefaction 

"  after 

^ce  p.  126,  n.  where  an  account  is  given  of  the  famie!>  and  another  hy- 
concerning  its  nature. 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER,  429 

• 

**  after  death,  in  the  inftances  mentioned  by  Dr.  Ha- 
"  milton,  feems  to  depend  upon  the  fame  caufe  as  that 
"  to  which  I  have  afcribed  it  in  thofe  cafes  of  death, 
<c  from  the  yellow  fever  in  which  evacuations  had  been 
"  ufed,  viz.  direct  debility.  In  the  former  cafes  this 
"  flownefs  of  putrefa&ion  is  induced  by  nature,  in  the 
"  latter  by  art.  The  effects  of  debility  from  both  caufes 
"  are,  notwithftanding,  the  fame." 

From  this  long  detail,  in  which  the  author's  meaning 
feems  rather  involved  in  pbfcurity,  we  may  gather  that  in 
the  fever  of  1 793  the  blood  had  no  determinate  appear* 
ance,  but  that,  according  to  the  action  of  the  vafcular 
fyftem,  it  was  fizy  or   otherwife.     This  pofition,  which 
in  my  opinion  is  the*  meaning  of  the  pafiage  juft  now 
quoted,  is  not  fupported  by  any  facts.  It  is  mentioned  in- 
deed that  the  blood  in  feme  was  fizy,  in  others  quite  fluid, 
but  as  the  cafes  in  which  it  was  fo  are  not  particularly  re- 
lated, we  do  not  know  whether  the  action  of  the  veflels 
was  ftronger  in  thofe  where  the  blood  was  fluid  than  where 
it  was  not.     Certain  it  is,  that  the  blood  may  be  made 
fiuid   by  certain  fubftances  mixed  with  it,  without  any 
action  of  the.  veflels  at  all.     The  poifon  of  the  ticunas, 
as  well  as  all  other  animal  poifons,  renders  the  blood  flu- 
id, yet  this  will  kill  inftantaneoufly  when  injected  into  a 
vein,  before  the  veflels  have  time  to  act  in  fuch  a  man- 
ner as  could,  be  fuppofed  to  change  the  texture  of  any  of 
the  fluids.*     Or  if  this  flill  will  not  fatisfy,  we  are  aflured 
that  the  poifon   of  ferpentsj  as  well  as  many  other  fub- 
ftances, which  are  not   poifons,   when    mixed    with  the 
blood  taken  out  of  the  body,  will  prevent  it  from  coagu- 
lating.    Granting,  therefore,  what  hath  not  been  proved, 
that  the  greater  the  action  of  the  veflels,  the  more  fluid 
the  blood  will  be,  yet  we  cannot  know  whether  this  flu- 
idity be  o.ccafioned  by   the  action  of  the  veflels,  or  the 
action  of  the  veflels  by   the  tendency  to  fluidity  in   the 
blood.     But  it  matters  not  which  of  the  two  is  caufe  or 
effect  :  the  queftion  is,  Whether  in  the  yellow  fever  does 
the  ultimate  effort  of  the  difeafe  tend   to   produce  any 
alteration  in  the  texture  of  the  blood  to  fluidity,  or  other- 
wife  ? 

*  See  p.  221—223, 


43*  A   TREATISE    ON 

wife  ?    This  can   be  known   only  from  confidering  the 
fymptoms  which  take  place  in  -the  laft  ftage  of  the  dif- 
order,   and  from  dirfe&ions.     Now,  from  the  concur- 
rent teftimoniesofall  the  writers  quoted  in  this  treatife* 
it  appears  that  towards   the  end  of  the  difeafe  there  is 
iuch  a  tendency  to  diffblution,  that  the  whole  body  feems 
ready  to  fall  down  into  a  putrid  mafs ;    or  at  leaft  into 
what  is  commonly  called  fo,  whether  with  ftrict  propriety 
of  language  or  not,  fignifies  little.     In  (hort,  the  differ* 
ence  between  the  plague  and  yellow  fever  feerhs  to  be 
entirely  of  the  fame  kind  with  that  taken  notice  of  in 
thi;;  treatife,  p.  p.  269,  270,  where  the  bile  of  a  perfon 
dying  of  a  malignant  fever  was  injecled  into  the  veins  of 
a  dog.     Here  the  blood  was  very  fluid.     In  capt.  Maw- 
hoods  cafe  (p.  385)  the  blood  flowed  from  his  nofe,  eyes 
and  gums,  befides  what   he  difcharged  by   vomit.     Dr, 
Lining  (p.  389)  attefts  a  fimilar  tendency  to  difTolu- 
tion  in  the  blood  in  a  moft  remarkable   manner.     See 
alfo  Dr.  Lind's  opinion  to  the  fame  purpofe,  p.  393,  Dr» 
Hillary's,  p.  395,  Dr.  Jackfon's account,  p.  399,  Dr.Chif- 
holm's,  p.  411  ;  and  laftly,  Dr.  Ru(h*s  own  teilimony 
concerning  the  haemorrhages  from  aii  parts,  lately  quoted. 
As  we  have  formerly  feen,  that  in  the  plague  there 
was  no  fuch  tendency  to  diffolution,  but  rather  to  co- 
agulation, in  the  blood,  it  was  thence  concluded  that  the 
immediate  caufe  of  the  fyrtiptoms  of  plague  is  a  tenden- 
cy in  the  bldod  to  throw  out  the  latent  heat  it  contains, 
by  which  means  the  parts  on  which  thefe  difcharges.  fall, 
are  burnt  up  to  a  kind  of  cinder.      In  the  yellow  fever 
the  ieverfe  takes  place.      The  blood  has  a  tendency  to 
abforb  heat,  and  if  it  does  fo  it  muft  of  courfe  become 
thinner,  for  this  is  the  nature  of  all  fluids,  and  indeed  it 
is  abundantly   manifeft  that  fluidity  in  all  cafes    is  an 
t:ffe6t  of  the   abforption  of  heat.*      In  confequence  of 
this  abforption,  the  bcxly  towards  the  hitter  end  feels  cold,, 
the  heat  feems  to  retire  from  the  extremities  towards  the 
vital  parts,  and  the  veffels  contracting  and  lofing  their 
power  by  reafon  of  the  abftraclion  of  fenfible  heat,  the 
e  c cafes  entirely  fome  time  before  death.     Dr.  Hux- 

ham 

*Seep.  550. 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER.  431 

ham  takes  notice  of  this  excefiive  coldnefs  in  the  limbs 
taking  place  in  a  lady  who  died  of  a  malignant  fever,  and 
likewife  that  an  intolerable  ftench  iffued  from  her  body 
for  fome  time  before  her  death,  though  kept  clean  with 
all  poffible  care.  As  the  plague  therefore  is  the  higheft 
of  all  inflammatory  difeafes,  fo  the  yellow  fever  feems  to 
be  the  higheft  of  the  malignant  clafs. 

It  may  be  objected,  however,  that  as  haemorrhages, 
petechise,  black  vomiting,  and  convulfions,  fometimes 
take  place  in  the  plague,  we  cannot  from  the  exiftence 
of  fimilar  fymptoms  in  the  yellow  fever,  conclude  that 
they  are  different  difeafes.  But,  with  regard  to  the  fird, 
it  mud  be  obferved,  that  an  hemorrhage  may  enfue 
from  a  rupture  of  veflels  as  well  as  from  an  oozing  of 
blood  in  confequence  of  an  acrimonious  thinnefs  of 
blood.  It  is  indeed  to  be  queftioned,  except  in  cafes 
where  blood  is  difflharged  by  the  pores  of  the  fkin,  whe- 
ther any  haemorrhage  takes  place  but  by  a  rupture  of 
veflels.  In  an  healthy  fubjecl:,  hemorrhages  very  fre- 
quently take  place  from  the  nofe  where  the  blood  is  of 
a  very  proper  confidence  j  and  Dr.  Ruflel  fays  that  he 
had  occafion  to  fee  hemorrhages  from  the  nofe  and  ute- 
rus only  ,  that  in  the  advanced  dages  of  the  difeafe 
though  the  blood  was  paler  and  of  a  thinner  confidence, 
the  haemorrhage  was  feldom  profufe.  It  was,  however, 
of  very  bad  omen  ;  mod  of  the  cafes  in  which  it  appear- 
ed having  terminated  fatally. 

That  towards  the  end  of  this  difeafe  the  blood  fhould 
begin  toabfoib  the  heat  which  it  had  before  thrown  out, 
is  not  wonderful.  A  tendency  to  diiTolution  very  pro- 
bably does  in  all  cafes  take  place  in  a  greater  or  lefler 
degree  ;  but  we  have  not  any  reafon  to  fuppofe  that  in 
the  true  plague  hemorrhages  ever  are  as  frequent,  vio- 
lent, or  attended  with  fuch  an  apparent  tendency  to 
putrefaction,  as  in  the  yellow  feVer,  and  confequently  we 
muft  fuppote  that  there  is  {omefpect/lc  difference  between 
the  date  of  the  blood  in  the  one  difeafe  and  in  the 
other. 

Convulfions,  though  very  frequent  in  the  yellow  fe- 
ver, yet,  according  to  Dr,  Ruflel,  were  very  rare  attend- 
ants 


432  A    TREATISE    ON 

ants  on  the  accefs  of  the  peftilential  fever.  Even  hic- 
cup was  feldom  obferved,  and  fneezing  not  once.  How- 
ever, he  fays  that  convulfive  motions  of  the  limbs  were 
frequently  obferved  in  the  courfe  of  the  difeafe  ;  but 
this  is  far  froin  what  Dr.  Chifholm  fays  of  the  Boullam 
fever,  where  the  patient  expired  in  a  violent  convuMive 
fit ;  or  what  Dr.  Rufli  fays  of  the  fever  of  1793,  in 
which  the  patient  fometimes  fell  down  in  universal  con- 
vulfions.  In  fhort,  the  abfence,  or  much  lefs  frequency, 
of  nervous  fymptoms  in  the  plague,  feems  to  conftitute 
another  fpecific  difference  between  the  two. 

With  regard  to  black  vomiting,  it  is  neither  peculiar 
to  the  plague  nor  yellow  fever.  Dr.  Miller*  has  mown 
that  it  may  be  occalioned  by  almofl  any  kind  of  acrid 
poifon  taken  into  the  ftomach.  In  proof  of  this  he 
quotes  from  Sauvages  the  cafe  of  a  man  who  died  in 
confequence  of  taking  a  drachm  of  wrnte  arfenic  inftead 
of  cream  of  tartar,  in  whofe  ftomach  was  found,  on  dif- 
fedlion,  a  black  liquor  which  depofited  a  fediment  like 
powdered  charcoal.  Tl>£  villo.us  coat  of  the  ftomach  was 
likewiie  abraded.  For  other  cafes  of  the  fame  kind  he 
refers  to  Wepfer  de  cicuta  aquatica,  Morgagni,  &c.  Ano- 
ther cafe  of  poifon  by  arfenic  occurred  in  New- York 
hoipital,  in  which  the  patient  had  a'black  vomiting.  In 
another  cafe  in  which  corrofive  mercury  was  fwallowed 
by  miftake,  the  patient,  after  being  to  appearance  in  a 
fair  way  of  recovery,  began  to  vomit  a  dark-coloured 
matter,  and  died  in  a  day  or  two.  The  agaricus  cly- 
peatus,  a  kind  of  poifonous  mufhroom,  brought  on  bili- 
ous ftools,  locked  jaw,  vomiting,  delirium,  oppreffion  of 
the  breaft,  fighing,  anxiety,  great  proftration  of  ftrength, 
yellownefs  on  fome  parts  of  the  ikin,  and  death  on  the 
fixth  day.  On  diflecYton  the  ftcmach  was  found  to  be 
inflamed,  the  duodenum  diftended  with  flatus,  and  the 
gall-bladcler  full  of  green  and  black  bile. 

But  the  principal  diftinctions  between  the  plague  and 
yellow  fever  feem  to  be  the  eruptive  nature  of  the  former, 
and  the  propenfity  in  the  latter  to  attack  ftrangers  new- 
ly arrived  from  colder  climates ;  alfo  in  being  more  eafi- 

}j 

*  Med.  Repofitory,  vol.  ii;  p.  4^. 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER.  433 

ly  checked  by  cold  than  the  plague.  It  has  already 
been  remarked  from  Dr.  Ruffel,  that  of  two  t houf and f even 
hundred  patients,  whofe  cafes  he  noted,  every  one  had  bu- 
boes. Thefe,  however,  were  not  all  the  cafes  he  faw  ; 
for  he  mentions  fome  that  had  no  eruptions  j  but  frorri 
this  it  is  impoflible  to  avoid  drawing  the  conclufion, 
that  eruptions  are  the  true  chara&eriftics  of  the  plague. 
Of  thefe  two  thoufand  feven  hundred,  eighteen  hundred 
and  forty-one  had  buboes  in  one  or  both  groins  ;  five 
hundred  and  fixty-nine  had  them  in  the  arm-pit ;  two 
hundred  and  thirty-one  had  parotids  $  four  hundred  and 
ninety,  carbuncles  ;  and  feventy-four,  fpurious  buboes. 
Now,  in  all  the  number  of  cafes  of  fever  which  Dr.  Rufh 
attended  in  1793,  he  had  only  two  with  buboes,  and 
one  parotid  ;  and  as  to  the  carbuncles  they  do  not 
anfwer  the  defcription  of  thofe  in  the  former  part  of  this 
work.*  It  is  impoflible  therefore  that  any  more  clear 
line  of  diftin&ion  can  be  drawn  between  the  plague  and 
yellow  fever,  The  following  table,  however,  exhibiting 
at  one  view  the  fymptoms  of  the  plague,  the  yellow 
fever*  fever  of  Boullam,  and  fever  of  1793,  will  perhaps 
fet  this  matter  in  a  ftill  clearer  light. 

From  a  mere  infpedton  of  the  detail  of  fymptoms  in 
this  table,  the  difference  between  the  feveral  diftempers 
is  obvious.  It  is  evident  that  none  of  them  can  with 
any  kind  of  propriety  be  called  higher  and  lower  degrees 
of  the  reft.  The  plague  is  efientially  different  from  the 
other  three,  which  feem  indeed  to  be  nearly  allied ;  the 
Boullam  fever  being  only  attended  with  more  violent 
and  malignant  fymptoms.  We  ought  now  to  enter 
into  a  particular  inquiry  concerning  the  origin  and  na- 
ture of  thefe  fevers;  but,  as  a  knowledge  of  this  is  in 
fome  meafure  dependent  on  the  queftion,  whether  or 
not  they  are  contagious,  we  (hall  in  the  firft  place 
prefent  the  reader  with  the  following  extrad  from  a 
French  treatife,  in  which  the  queftion  feems  to  be  han- 
dled in  an  agreeable  and  judicious  manner,  and  then 
make  another  attempt,  by  an  inveftigation  of  matter  of 

facl, 

*  See  p.  257. 

Kkk 


A    TREATISE    ON 

fad:,  to  determine  whether  the  difeafe  has  ever  been  ex- 
cited by  imported  contagion  or  not : 

"  A  very  important  queftion  is — whether  this  difeafe 
'  is  contagious.  The  greater  part  of  the  American  phy- 
6C  ficians  are  of  opinion  that  it  is,  and  are  perfuaded  that 
"  it  is  brought  from  the  Weft  Indies,  by  the  fhips  which 
"  arrive  here  in  the  beginning  of  every  fummer.  It  is 
"  even  from  that  opinion,  and  on  their  vigorous  reprefen- 
:c  tations,  that  quarantines  have  been  eftablilhed,  which 
"  every  veflel  from  the  Weft  Indies  is  obliged  to  perform 
*  during  10  and  fometimes  20  days  at  Fort  Mifflin,  fe- 
"  veral  miles  diftance  from  Philadelphia.  This  forma- 
"  lity,  fo  troublefome  to  navigation,  was  obferved  this 
'c  year  (1798)  with  more  feverity  than  ever  it  was  ;  but 
*c  without  anfwering  any  good  purpofe  for  the  veiTcls  ^ 
"  for  very  few  (hips'  companies  appeared  taken  with  the 
"  yellow  or  putrid  fever.  Neverthelefs  the  epidemic,. 
"  whatever  name  it  affumes,  raged  this  year  in  Phila- 
£c  delphia  with  more  fury  than  even  in  1793.  Befides, 
c  if  the  quarantine  was  a  fure  prefervative,  if  almoft  all 
*£  the  fhips*  crews  coming  from  the  Weft  Indies  brought 
<£  ihs  yellow  fever  with  them,  why  fhould  not  CHARLES- 
"  TON,  NORFOLK,  ALEXANDRIA,  BALTIMORE,  Bos- 
"  TON  and  SALEM,  where  no  quarantines  are  performed, 
<£  be  affefted  with  the  contagion,  as  well  as  New  York 
"and  Philadelphia?  The  American  phyikians  are  fo 
"  convinced  that  the  yellow  fever  is  contagious,  that  they 
"  fcrupulou/ly  prohibit  perfons  in  health  from  all  com- 
"  munications  with  thofe  difeafed  ;  they  order  frequent 
"  waterings  in  the  ftreets  and  about  the  houfes  where 
cc  the  fever  has  manifefted  itfelf,  and  aromatic  fumiga- 
*£  tions.  They  even  order  the  clothes  of  tho/e  who  have 
tc  fallen  by  it  to  be  burned,  as  is  pradifed  with  refpect 
"  to  thofe  who  die  with  the  plague.  It  muft  be  confef- 
"  fed  that  their  precautions,  in  this  refpecl:,  have  in 
"  fome  fort  been  juftified,  on  feeing  all  the  individuals 
"  of  one  family  fuccedively  taken  with  it,  and  often  at 
44  the  (lime  time,  their  neighbours,  and  fo  on,  to  a  num- 
"  ber  of  people  who  might  be  authorifed  to  attribute 
"  their  misfortunes  only  to  their  vicinage  with  the  firft 
"  viftims.  <;  Neverthelefs, 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER.  435 

*c  Neverthelefs,  if  this  diftemper  was  as  contagious  as 
*'  certain  phyficians  pretend,  why  fhould  they  not  be  the 
"  firft  to  be  taken  with  it  ,  they  who  fee,  examine  and 
"  touch  many  patients  every  day  ?  Why  fhould  not 
"  thofe  who  nurfe  them  day  and  night,  who  continually 
"  breathe  thofe  putrid  miafrnata  ;  why  fhould  not  thofe 
"  who  attend  the  hofpitals,  thofe  who  daily  carry  30  or 
**  40  coffins  to  the  grave,  be  taken  with  it  ?  We  do  not 
*'  hear,  however,  that  the  phyficians,  furgeons,  nurfes  and 
"  fextons  have  enlarged  the  funeral  lift  more  than  any 
"  other  clafs.  of  citizens.  Some  doubtlefs  have  fallen, 
*c  and  perhaps  they  owed  their  death  to  their  frequent 
"  communications  with  the  fick  ;  but  would  the  epi- 
*c  demic  have  fpared  them  in  any  other  condition,  more 
"  than  a  number  of  unfortunate  people  who  are  neither 
**  phyficians  nor  nurfes  ? 

"  Another  particular  not  lefs  remarkable  is,  that  the 
*(  yellow  fever  feems  hitherto  to  have  fpared  the  French- 
"  men  who  have  refided  in  the  Weft  India  colonies,  the 
"  greateft  part  of  whom  have  neverthelefs  ftaid  in  New 
"  York  and  Philadelphia  during  the  y€ How  fever,  and 
"have  lived  in  the  midft  of  the  contagious  air  which 
"  proves  fo  fatal  to  the  Americans.  The  refult  of  all 
*'  this  is,  that,  notwithftanding  four  years'  experience, 
"  notwithftanding  the  public  and  private  refearches  and 
"  difcuffions  which  took  place  between  the  phyficians 
"  and  philofophers  of  the  American  continent,  there  is 
"  ftili  much  uncertainty  on  the  nature  of  the  diftemper 
"  which  fo  rapidly  depopulates  New  York  and  Philadel- 
€<  phia.  Every  opinion,  every  fyftem,  prefents  palpable 
u  contradidions,  and  is  liable  to  objections  which  it  is 
<c  difficult,  not  to  fay  impoffible,  to  anfwer  in  a  fatisfac- 
"  tory  manner.  If  the  difeafe  be  contagious,  why  are 
"  not  the  phyficians,  the  nurfes,  the  fervants  of  the  hof- 
<c  pitals,  taken  fooner  than  perfons  v/ho  have  no  fort  of 
"  communication  with  the  fick  ? 

"  If  it  be  not  contagious,  how  happens  it  that  the  na- 
54  tives  of  every  age  and  fex,  many  of  which,  the  women 
<c  and  children  efpecially,  live  in  a  pretty  fober  manner, 
"  and  feldom  drink  any  of  thofe  liquors  fo  liable  to  in* 
"  flame  the  blood,  are  taken  with  jt,  and  fall,  in  fpite  of 


436  A    TREATISE    ON 

"  all  the  efforts  of  medicine  ?  How  happens  it  that  the 
c  Europeans  and  Frenchmen  who  have  never  been  in 
"  the  colonies  are  attacked  like  the  Americans,  whilft 
"  the  planters  in  the  Weft  Indies  are  fpared  ? 

"  On  the  other  hand,  if,  as  the  French  phyficians  pre- 
ie  tend,  this  is  nothing  elfe  than  the  malignant  putrid 
"  fever,  often  prevalent  in  Hifpaniola,  how  happens  it 
;c  that  thofe  medicines  and  that  mode  of  treatment 
"  which  were  fo  frequently  fuccefsful  in  the  colonies  have 
*  no  fort  of  fuccefs  when  adminiftered  to  Americans, 
"  and  feldom  with  Europeans  ?  Why  is  this  fever  at- 
:<  tended,  in  its  very  firft  ftage,  with  vomitings  of  blood, 
:c  bile,  black  fpots,  purples  and  other  alarming  fymptoms, 
:c  which  they  frequently  have  at  Hifpaniola  ?  How 
"  comes  it  that  the  Weft  India  planters,  who,  while 
>l  they  refided  in  the  colonies,  had  frequent  attacks  of 
:c  putrid  and  often  inflammatory  fevers,  enjoy  the  mod 
*'  blooming  health  ever  fince  they  have  been  on  the 
:c  American  continent  ?  And  why  are  they  not  taken 
;£  with  thofe  putrid  and  inflammatory  fevers,  at  a  time 
•c  when  thofe  who  have  given  them  an  afylum  are  the 
"  daily  victims  of  it  ?  Finally,  if  we  muft  attribute  the 
£c  epidemic  to  no  other  caufe  than  the  immoderate  heat 
°c  of  the  fummer,  which  is  really  greater  here  for  two  or 
;*  three  months  than  at  Hifpaniola,  where  a  land  and 
fc  fea  breeze  tempers  its  violence,  why  does  it  not  flop 
"  its  ravages  when  the  heat  moderates  ?  We  have  ob- 
"  ferved  in  the  epidemics  of  New  York  and  Philadel- 
:£  phia,  that  they  were  lefs  deftructive  in  the  burning 
"  dog-days  than  in  the  months  of  September  and  Oc- 
"  tober,  when  the  mornings,  evenings  and  nights  begin 
"  to  be  cool,  and  even  cold  enough  to  allow  people  to 
fc  go  clothed  as  warmly  as  in  winter. 

"  We  have  now  a  recent  and  (hiking  example  that  it 
:c  is  not  heat  only  which  caufes  the  epidemics  ;  fince 
:c  there  were  only,  in  the  month  of  September,  three  or 
<c  four  days  of  great  heat.  The  reft  were  very  cool.  It 
"  may  even  be  (aid  that  from  the  22d  it  was  cold,  efpe- 
"  cially  on  the  28th  and  2pth,  when  a  violent  north 
"  wind  obliged  many  people  to  have  a  fire.  The  num- 

"  ber 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER*  437 

"  her  of  deaths  never  were,  however,  fo  numerous  as  they 
**  have  been  fincc  the  2oth  of  September.  The  funeral 
<c  lift,  which  in  July  and  Auguft  amounted  to  40  per  day, 
"  reached  on  the  aoth  of  September  to  78,  the  zzd,  68, 
"**  the  23d,  71,  the  24th,  63,  the  25th,  80,  the  26th, 
"  77,  the  27th,  96,  the  28th,  106,  the  29th,  76,  and 
"  from  the  29th  at  twelve  o'clock,  to  the  ift  of  Odo- 
**  ber,  fame  hour,  the  number  was  i  70  ;  a  number  as 
(f  prodigious  as  it  is  frightful :  we  could  not  therefore 
"  even  flatter  ourfelves  that  the  fevereft  frofts  of  the  end 
tf  of  Odtober  would  difpel  the  epidemic,  did  not  expe- 
<c  rience  afford  us  that  comforting  hope. 

"  What  then  is  the  phyfical  caufe  of  this  fcourge, 
"  which  all  human  prudence  and  fcience  are  unable  to 
*f  avert  ?  The  miniflers  of  religion  will  not  fail  to  af- 
tf  cribe  it  to  celeftial  wrath,  and  to  advife  prayers,  faft 
<!  and  charity  to  appeafe  it.  Thofe  pious  practices  can- 
"  not  affurediy  do  harm  ;  but  the  philofophical  obferver, 
*?  who  does  not  conceive  that  Philadelphia  and  New 
"  York  fhould  have  excited  the  Heavenly  wrath  more 
^  than  thofe  of  other  cities  of  the  continent,  willfeek  for 
"  more  natural  caufes,  and  will  examine  whether  they 
^  fhould  not  be  attributed  to  fome  local  and  peculiar 
*i  vice  of  thofe  two  unfortunate  cities,  and  perhaps  to 
"  the  temperament,  the  diet,  the  mode  of  life,  of  their 
"  inhabitants.  Refpe&ing  this,  we  do  not  find,  in  the 
<c  localities  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia  fufficient 
^  reafons,  nor  in  the  conftitutions  or  mode  of  life  of  their 
**  inhabitants  fufficient  variations,  to  mark  them  as  the 
*-c  victims  of  the  yellow  fever  ^  while  the  inhabitants  [of 
*c  other  places]  are  free  from  it. 

*c  I  am  however  inclined  to  think  that  New  York  and 
C{  Philadelphia,  more  than  any  other  cities,  contain 
<c  caufes  of  corruption  or  putridity,  occafioned  by  their 
4f  fize  and  the  extent  of  their  commerce,  which,  added 
<c  to  the  high  mode  of  life  of  the  Americans,  may  be 
**  thefource  of  the  calamity  which  now  affects  them. 

^  In  effect,  we  obferve  that  in  thefe  two  cities  the 
"  epidemic  has  conftantly  manifefted  itfelf  in  thofe  parts 
*?  which  are  not  only  the  mod  commercial,  but  alfo 

"  where 


A   TREATISE    ON 

"  where  the  common  finks  of  the  city  meet ;  where  the 
"  houfes,  inhabited  by  the  poorer  clafs  of  people,  being 
"  fmaller,  and  more  crowded  together j  where  the  (lores 
<c  contain  mod  provifions  liable  to  fermentation  and  pu- 
"  tridity  j  where  the  (hipping  crowded  in  the  wharf: 
*'  render  the  water  ftagnant ;  where  immenfe  quantities 
"  of  dirt  and  litter  are  brought  from  every  quarter  for 
"  the  purpofe'of  filling  up  new  wharves  and  other  places 
"  defigned  to  be  taken  from  the  fea,  to  enlarge  lands 
"  to  buiid  upon  ;  finally,  where  the  water  ufed  to  drink 
"  does  not  reach  the  pumps  of  the  lower  part  of  the 
"  city  until  it  has  filtrated  through  the  burying-grounds 
"  and  privy-houfes  of  the  upper  parts,  moft  of  which 
44  have  no  walls,  and  are  never  emptied. 

"  Let  us  add  to  all  thofe  caufes  of  infection  the  dead 
"  dogs,  cats,  pigs,  and  rats,  which  are  thrown  into  the 
*'  common  (inks  and  docks,  the  rotten  fi(h,  and  the  pri- 
"  vies,  which  in  feveral  houfes,  efpecially  at  New  York, 
*4  are  nothing  but  tubs,  which  are  emptied  weekly  on 
"  the  fea  more,  and  we  (hall  have  lefs  reafon  to  won- 
44  der  at  the  putrid  exhalations  which  iffue  on  the  eaftern 
"  part  of  New  York,  and  at  Philadelphia  on  that  part 
44  contiguous  to  the  Delaware,  and  which  are  capable  of 
cs  infecting  the  whole  atmofphere,  and  to  impair  the 
"  health  of  thofe  who  live  in  it.  If  the  people  who 
"  dwell  in  thofe  parts  are  not  fcrupulouily  fober,  if  they 
*c  frequently  indulge  in  the  ufe  of  fpiritous  liquors,  if 
"  they  feed  on  fuch  food  as  is  generally  known  to  be 
"  unhealthy,  is  it  to  be  wondered  that,  with  fuch  a 
"  mode  of  life,  their  blood  ihould  be  more  difpofed  to 
44  inflammation  and  to  be  diffolved  and  corrupted,  ir> 
"  the  midft  of  an  air  already  corrupted  and  loaded  with 
44  deftrucYive  miafmata  ? 

"  Now  every  man  knows  that  thofe  who  live  conti- 
"  guous  to  the  river  at  New  York,  and  the  Delaware  at 
"  Philadelphia,  moftly  failors,  Shipwrights,  truckmen, 
44  labourers,  tavernkeepers,  &c.  feldom  trouble  them- 
4C  felves  about  the  quantity  of  their  foods  and  drinks, 
fi  but  indulge  copiouily  in  the  ufe  of  ftrong  liquors,  of 
44  which  an  aftonifhing  confumption  is  made  in  thofe 

4*  parts, 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER.  439 

*f  parts.  They  are  not  in  other  refpedh  more  careful  as 
*'  to  cleanlinefs  in  their  narrow  and  low  houfcs.  There, 
"  in  a  hole  called  a  bedroom,  and  on  a  feather-bed  half 
"  rotted,  in  a  heap  of  rags  half  devoured  by  infeds  (till 
"  more  difgufting,  two  and  fometimes  three  individuals, 
*'  covered  with  fweat,  often  drunk,  fleep,  and  ftill  in* 
<(  creafe  the  filth  by  their  ftiameful  and  dirty  mode  of 
"  life.  Shall  we  find  it  ftrange  that  thofe  infeded  haunts 
"  mould  (hed  forth  in  the  morning  a  mephitic  air,  ca~ 
"  pable  of  fuffbcating  the  moftrobuft  and  vigorous  men  ? 
"  Shall  we  wonder  that  thofe  who  breathe  this  peftilen- 
"  tial  gaz  are  fuddenly  feized  with  a  fever  ?  in  itfelf  perhaps 
"  not  very  dangerous,  if  it  were  treated  in  a  fuitable 
"  manner.  But  what  is  their  method  of  treating  it  ? 
"  They  do  not  even  know  the  name  ofpfifan,  ftill  lefs 
"  the  ufe  of  anodynes,  nor  that  of  fall  of  nitre  +  nor  of 
*c  camphor,  fo  proper  to  prevent  putridity.  Punch, 
"  made  with  rum ;  water  mixed  with  gin  and  molalfes  ; 
"  a  fort  of  foup  made  with  Madeira  wine ;  fifh ;  raw  oyf- 
"  ters,  &c.  thefe  are  their  firft  medicines.  If  their  wives  or 
"  friends  go  to  confult  the  apothecary,  he  advifes  the 
"  caftor-oil,  or  the  famous  calomel  pills  or  powders,  whofe 
"  virtues  the  quacks  extol  for  every  difeafe.  Finally, 
"  if  the  fever  increafes,  the  doctor  is  called,  who  admi- 
*c  nifters  a  light  puke  of  12  or  15  grains  of  tartar  eme- 
"  tic,  a  plenty  of  laudanum  to  procure  fleep,  and  who, 
"  feeing  the  cafe  defperate,  withdraws,  faying  that  he 
"  was  called  too  late  1*  "  Although 

*  In  Dr.  Rufh's  account  of  the  fever  of  17931  we  tind  the  following  remarks 
•a  the  French  mode  of  practice,  to  which  it  feems  remarkable  that  our  author 
has  given  no  anfwer  :     "I  proceed    with  reludlance  to  inquire  into  the  com* 
<«  parative  fuccefs  of  the  French  practice.     It  would  not  be  difficult  to  decide 
««  upon  it  from  many  fadts  that  came  under  my  notice  in  the  city  ;  but  I  Ihalt 
"  relt  its  merit  wholly  upon  the  returns  of  the  number  of  deaths  at  Bum-hill. 

•This  hofpital.  after  the  aad  of  Septemberi  was  put  under  the  care  of  a 
«  French  phyiician,  who  was  aflifted  by  one  of  thephyficians  of  the  city.  The 
1  kofpital  was  in  a  pleafant  and  airy  fituation  ;  it  was  provided  with  all  the 
'  neceiTaries  and  comforts  for  fick  people  that  humanity  could  invent,  orlibe- 
«  rality  lupply.  The  attendants  were  devoted  to  their  duty,  and  cleanlinefs 

*  and  order  pervaded  every  room  in  the  houfe.     The   reputation  of  this  hof- 

*  pital,  and  of  the  French  phyfician>  drew  patients  to  it  in  the  early  ftage  of 
«  the  diforder.     Of  this  I  have  been  afiured  in   a  letter  from  Dr.  Annan,  who 
4  was  appointed  to  examine  and  give  orders  of  admiflum  into  the  hofpital  to 
«  fuch  of  the  poor  of  the  diftridt  of  Southwark,  as  could  not  be  taken  care  of  in 
«  their  own  houfes.     Mr.  Olden  has  likewife  informed  me,  that  moftofthe 

««  patients  who  were  fent  to  the  hofpital  by  the  city  committee  (of  which  he 

«  was 


440  A   TREATISE   ON 

«c  Although  the  inhabitants  of  the  other  parts  of  the 
*  city  who  are  in  better  circumftances  follow  a  mode  of 
"  life  more  regular,  feed  on  more  wholefome  aliment, 
* '  and  are  much  more  cleanly  in  their  houfes  (except  how- 
"  ever  feather -beds  and  lower  bedrooms]  it  is  neverthelefs  a 
4<  fact  that  they  are  much  inclined,  the  men  efpecially,  to 
"  eat  fait  meat,  meat  half  cooked,  green  fruit,  and  ftilt 
"  more  to  drink  fpiritous  wines.  Several  of  them  allow 
**  themfelves  an  immoderate  ufe  of  the  latter  between  din- 
•*  ner  and  tea-time,  the  ftrength  of  which,  added  to  that  of 
*'  the  higK-fpiced  food,  and  liquors,  muft  neceffarily  in- 
4t  creafe  in  their  blood  that  fermentation  already  exci- 
"  ted  by  the  heat  of  the  feafon.  Now,  lhall  we  not 
"  concede  that  bodies  thus  predifpofed  ought  to  be 
€<  more  fufceptible  than  others  of  the  impreffion  of  the 
"  corrupted  mialmata  which  are  conftantly  exhaled  from 
*c  every  thing  that  furrounds  them  j  from  the  common 
"  fewers,  the  wharves  or  the  docks ;  from  the  dirt  and 
**  litter  of  the  alleys  and  lanes  -9  from  the  fulphureous 
*£  bilge-water  of  fhips ;  from  the  cellars  and  from  the 
"  fiores ;  in  fhort,  from  thofe  houfes  which  contain  fick, 
*c  dying  and  dead  perfons  ? 

Here  the  author,  after  ftating  objections  on  both 
fides,  feems  at  laft  to  determine  that  the  difeafe  is  pro- 
duced by  putrid  effluvia.  The  difpute  on  this  fubject, 
however,  hath  continued  fo  long,  that  we  can  by  nor 
means  expect  to  fettle  it  in  this  treatife.  At  firfh  view 
one  would  think  that  nothing  could  be  more  eafy  than 
to  determine  whether  the  difeafe  arofe  foon  after  the  ar- 
lival  of  foreign  veflels,  or  in  places  which  had  no  con- 
nexion with  maritime  affairs.  But  when  we  come  to 
particulars  there  is  fuch  a  ilrange  difagreement  and  con- 
tradiction 

*  was  a  member)  were  in  the  firft  ftage  of  the  fever.     With  all  thefe  advan- 

*  tages,  the  deaths,  between  the  zzd  of  September  and  the  6th  of  November* 
'  amounted  to  448  out  of  807  patients  who  were  admitted  into  the  hofpitaj 
4  within  that  time.     Three  fourths  of  ail  the  blacks  (nearly  zo)  who  were  pa- 
«  tients  in  this  hofpital,  died.    A  lift  of  the  medicines  prefcribed  there  may  be 

*  feen  in  the  minutes  of  the  proceedings  of  the  city  committee.     Calomel  and 
'  jalap  are  not  among   them.     Moderate  bleeding  and  purging  with  glauber 

*  laltsi  I  have  been  informed*  were  ufed  in  fome  cafes  by  the  phyiicians  of 
« this  hofpital.     The  proportion  of  deaths  to  the  recoveries,  as  it  appears  i* 
« the  minutes  of  the  committee  from  whence  the  report  is  taken>  it>  truly  m*- 

*»  lancholy  !" 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER.  44* 

tradiClion  concerning  fads,  that  we  are  in  every  inftance 
driven  back  into  the  wide  field  of  theory  and  argumen- 
tation. One  inftance  of  this  we  have  already  had  in  the 
cafe  of  the  Boullam  fever  faid  to  be  imported  by  the 
Hankey.  Let  Us  now  try  another.  Dr.  Currie  of  Phi- 
ladelphia, in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Wynkoop  of  date  October 
loth,  1797,  fays  that  the  fever  at  New- York,  of  1795, 
was  proved  "  by  unqueftionable  faCts,"  to  have  been  in- 
troduced from  Port  au  Prince  by  the  brig  Zephyr  ;  and 
for  a  proof  of  this  he  refers  to  a  letter  of  the  health 
committee  of  New  York  to  the  governor,  dated  Sep- 
tember 8th  of  that  year.  From  this  letter  it  appears 
that  Dr.  Treat  viiited  this  vefTel  on  the  28th  of  July, 
where  he  found  three  men  ill  of  what  he  called  a  bi- 
lious remitting  fever •,  and  the  body  of  one  who  died 'that 
morning.  Two  days  after,  the  DoCtor  was  taken  ill, 
and  died  in  eight  days,  with  unequivocal  fymptoms  of 
yellow  fever.  On  the  25th,  four  perfons  from  on  board 
the  (hip  William,  from  Liverpool,  which  arrived  feveral 
weeks  before  (the  crew  of  which  till  this  time  had  beeri 
healthy)  were  taken  ill  of  fever,  and  died  with  fimilar 
fymptoms  in  feven  days.  Nothing  can  be  more  direCt 
than  this  evidence,  yet  it  did  hot  give  fatisfaCtioh. 

The  faCt  was  impugned  by  the  late  Dr.  E.  Smith,  in 
a  letter  to  Dr.  Buel,*  who  produces  fuch  evidence  as, 
in  his  opinion,  "  eftablilhes  it  beyond  a  Contradiction, 
"  that  neither  Dr.  Treat  nor  any  other  perfon  con- 
*'  traCted  a  fever,  fuch  as  prevailed  in  New  York  in 
"  1795,  from  any  lick  or  dead  man,  or  any  thing  elfe 
"  connected  with  the  veflel  in  queftion." 

The  evidence  brought  forward  is  the  declaration  and 
depofition  of  capt.  Bird.  In  a  letter  to  Dr.  Dingley^ 
the  captain  "  thinks  it  his  duty  to  contradict  the  report" 
that  Dr.  Treat  "  caught  thedifeafe  of  which  he  died  ori 
board  the  Zephyr."  He  contradicts  it  by  a  depofition, 
that  "  the  mate  and  one  mariner  had  the  fever  and  ague 
"  feventeen  days  on  Chore,  and  came  on  board  with  the 

**  fame  difeafe  ;  and  the   captaift  himfelf  had  a  dyfen- 

i 

*  Webfter's  Colicaion,  p.  yf, 

Lii 


44*  A    TREATISE   ON 

"  tery  on  his  arrival  in  New  York  ;  and  John  Wheeler, 
"  aged  1 6  years,  died  on  the  day  of  the  arrival  of  the  brig 
€C  in  New  York,  by  worms  craw/ing  up  into  fas  throat,  and 
"  choking  him.  He  was  fewed  up  in  a  piece  of  canvafs, 
"  and  ready  to  be  committed  to  the  deep,  when  Dr. 
"  Treat  came  on  board,  who  defired  the  captain  to  have 
"  the  canvafs  opened,  that  he  might  infped:  the  body  ; 
"  and  he  only  cut  the  canvafs  over  the  face,  but  did  not 
"  make  any  other  examination  of  the  body." 

How  far  this  proves  captain  Bird's  affcrtion,  that  Dr, 
Treat  did  not  catch  the  difeafe  on  board  the  Zephyr,  the 
reader  will  judge.  It  is,  however,  inconfiftent  with  the 
plan  of  this  treatife  to  enter  into  an  examination  of  con- 
tradictory evidence  concerning  matters  of  fact.  Ac- 
counting z&  nothing,  therefore,  all  that  has  been  faid,  by 
either  part\>  concerning  the  brig  Zephyr,  let  us  proceed 
to  other  teftimonies. 

In  a  collection  of/afts  and  obfervaticns  by  the  College 
of  Phyiicians,  published  la  ft  year,  we  find  the  following 
remarkable  accounts  tending  to  prove  that  the  difeafe 
was  introduced  by  the  fhip  Deborah,  from  Port  au 
Prince  and  Jeremie  ?in  St  Domingo:  iv  In  a  letter 
from  Dr.  Stevens  to  Dr.  Griffiths  it  is  dated,  that  "  the 
"  yellow  fever  prevailed  in  almoft  all  the  fea-port  towns 
"  in  the  French  part  of  Hifpaniola,  particularly  at  Cape 
"  Nichola  Mole,  where  it  raged  fo  violently  that  it 
"  obliged  the  Britifli  to  abandon  the  poft  Iboner  than 
"  they  intended.  About  the  fame  time  it  appeared  in 
**  the  harbour  of  St.  Thomas,  and  was  fo  deftructive  to 
"  foreigners,  that  it  obtained  the  name  of  th  ptqrve" 
The  Doctor  faw  feveral  cafes  of  it  in  St.  Domingo, 
during  the  months  of  Auguft  and  September,  1798,  and 
"  thele  were  entirely  confined  to  American  jcamen,  while 
<c  the  native  inhabitants  of  the  city  were  totally  exempt 
*-  from  it."  2.  From  thrs  very  fickly  coaft  arrived  the 
Deborah  on  the  eighth  of  July.  3.  On  the  izth  of 
Auguft  John  Lewis,  mate  ot  the  Deborah,  informed  D\\ 
Currie,  that  the  veflel  had  loftfeven  perfons  with  fever  on 
board  during  her  paffage,  and  one  by  accident  ;  and 
that  flx  had  been  employed  as  a  tranfport  in  the  BritiJJi  fer* 

vice 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER.  443 

*uite  previous  to  her  taking  in  her  cargo  atjeremie.  4.  Mr. 
Thomas  Town  informed  Dr.  Wittar,  that,  on  the  firft 
of  Auguft,  1798,  he  was  told  by  Alexander  Philips,  of 
Water  ftreet,  that  he  (Mr.  Philips)  had  brought  up 
two  or  three  tick  people  from  the  Deborah,  in  one  or 
two  boats.  Some  of  them  he  had  brought  to  his  own 
houfe;  and  one  was  dead.  Philips  himfelf  was  fick  at 
the  fame  time,  and  died  a  day  or  two  after.  5.  Mr. 
Purdon  informed  Dr.  Currie  that  he  had  a  fimilar  ac- 
count from  Mr.  Philips,  whom  he  faw  on  the  firft  or  fe- 
cond  of  Auguft  in  apparent  good  health,  and  that  he 
died  on  the  Saturday  following. 

All  this,  and  further  evidence feemingly  equally  ftrong, 
was  fet  afide  with  the  greatefl  facility  by  bringing  coun- 
ter-evidence, particularly  that  of  Mrs.  Philips,  who  de- 
nied that  there  were  any  fick  people  in  the  houfe ;  and 
by  bringing  inftances  'of  the  fever  exifting  in  town  before 
the  veffel  arrived.  It  is  needlefs  therefore  to  trouble  the 
reader  with  any  further  difcuffion  of  this  evidence  more 
than  the  reft.  As  the  ancient  Britons,  in  their  letter  to 
Aetius,  lamented  that  the  barbarians  drove  them  to  the 
fea,  and  the^  drove  them  back  to  the  barbarians,  fo 
may  we  lament,  in  the  prefent  inveftigation,  that  the 
uncertainty  of  theory  drives  us  to  faffs,  and  the  uncer- 
tainty of  fuppofed  fads  drives  us  to  theory.  Still,  how- 
ever, we  (hall  not  defpair.  The  introduction  of  a  difeafe 
into  a  large  city  is  much  more  difficult  to  be  traced  than 
in  a  fmaller  one.  In  the  year  1 794  the  difeafe  appeared 
in  the  town  of  New  Haven  in  Connecticut.  Dr.  Mon- 
fon  of  that  place  informs  us,  that  it  appeared  on  the  loth 
of  June,  when  Mrs.  .Gorham,  reiiding  on  the  Long 
•wharf,  was  vifited  by  Dr.  Hotchkifs,  who  found  her  af- 
fected with  fymptbms  of  the  yellow  fever.  In  three  days 
her  complaints  fuddenly  vanifhed,  and  flie  was  fuppofed 
to  be  in  a  fair  way  of  recovery,  but  the  fame  evening  fhe 
vomited  matter  refembling  coffee-grounds,  and  died  next 
day.  On  the  fame  day  that  Mrs.  Gorham  died,  Dr. 
Monfon  vifited  her  niece,  a  girl  of  eight  years  of  age,  who 
had  ftaid  a  week  with  her  aunt,  and  was  taken  ill 
three  days  before.  The  day  after  the  Doctor  faw 

her 


444  A    TREATISE    ON 

her  fhe  was  fuddenly  relieved  as  her  aunt  had  been, 
but  in  a  few  hours  vomited  matter  like  coffee-grounds^ 
and  died  next  day.  Thefe  and  fome  other  fimilar  cafe$ 
having  alarmed  the  feledt  men,  inquiry  was  made,  when 
'  it  appeared,  that,  in  the  beginning  of  June,  capt. 
c  Truman  arrived  from  Martinico,  in  a  floop  that  was 
"  infe&ed  with  the  contagion  of  the  yellow  ferer ;  that 
"  this  veflel  lay  at  the  wharf,  within  a  few  rods  of  Mrs. 
"  Gqrhams  refidence ;  that  (he  had  on  board  a  cheft  of 
"  clothes  which  had  belonged  to  a  mariner  who  died 
"  of  the  yellow  fever  in  Martinico  ;  and  that  his  cheft 
"  was  carried  into  Mr.  Auftin's  ftore,  and  opened  in 
"  prefence  of  Capt.  Truman,  Mr.  Auftin,  Henry  Hub- 
"  bard,  and  Polly  Gorham  :  the  three  laft  died  in  a 
"  fhort  time  after  their  sxpofure  to  the  contents  of  the 
"  cheft.  Hence  it  is  highly  probable  that  Mrs.  Gor- 
"  ham  caught  the  difeafe  from  the  infected  floop  or 
"  clothing.  Mr.  Auftin's  ftore  (lands  within  three  or 
c<  four  rods  of  Mr.  Gorham's  houfe ;  and  no  perfon  in 
"  town  was  known  to  have  the  yellow  fever  previous  to 
**  capt.  Truman's  arrival." 

In  his  further  account  of  this  fever  Dr.  Monfon  (hows 
that  it  was  contagious  in  the  higheft  degree,  and  that 
Mr.  Gqrham*s  hou.fe  proved  a  kind  of  feminary  from 
whence  the  difeafe  fpread  itfelf.  "  June  26  (fays  he) 
"  Ifaac  Gorham  loft  an  infant  child  with  the  yellow  fe- 
"  ver  ;  and  foon  after  his  fon  and  daughter  were  affecled 
<c  with  it  :  the  former  died.  Solomon  Mudge  died 
"  on  the  30th  ;  Jacob  Thomfon's  negro  woman  on  the 
cc  ift  of  July  ;  Archibald  McNeil  on  the  9th  ;  Polly 
"  Brown  on  the  3d  of  Auguft  ;  John  Storer,  jun.  and 
"  John  Hide,  on  the  8th  \  and  widow  Thornton  on  the 
"  roth.  Jacob  Thornton's  negro  wonpan,  Solomon 
c<  Mudge,  John  Storer,  jun.  and  John  Hide,  had  vi- 
f(  fited  Mr.  Gorham's  houfe  a  few  days  before  their  ill- 
<c  nefs  ;  Polly  Brown  and  Mrs.  Thornton  nurfed  in  Mr. 
"  Gorham's  family ;  and  Archibald  M'Neil  nurfed 
"  Solomon  Mudge.  Elias  Gill  died  on  the  I2th  of 
"  Auguft,  and  Samuel  Qrifwold's  wife  on  the  7th  : 
"  the  former  vifited  Mr.  Gorham's  houfe,  the  latter 
t(  purfed  in  his  family.  "  There 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER.  445 

&  There  were  a  number  of  perfons  who  caught  the 
t*  difeafe  at  Mr.  Gorham's  houfe,  and  recovered. 

"  Mrs.  Thomfon,  on  the  firft  day  of  her  illnefs,  was 
"  moved  half  a  mile  from  Mr.  Gorham's,  into  George^ 
*'  ftreet.  Luther  Fitch  caught  the  difeafe  from  Mrs. 
"  Thomfon,  and  communicated  it  to  his  fervant  maid. 
*c  Both  recovered.  Mr.  Fitch  lives  in  College-ftreet, 
"  nearly  three  quarters  of  a  mile  diftant  from  Mr.  Gor- 
"  ham's  houfe.  1  could  trace  the  difeafe  throughout 
"  the  town.  No  perfon  had  the  yellow  fever  unlefs  in 
"  confequence  of  attending  the  fick,  or  of  being  expofed 
"  by  nqrfes,  infected  houfes,  clothing,  or  furniture. 

"  J  have  inquired  of  feveral  aged  perfons  in  this  town 
"  relative  to  the  yellow  fever,  whether  they  knew  of  its 
rc  having  ever  been  here  previous  to  June  1794,  and 
"there  is  but  a  (ingle  inftance;  the  fads  relating  to 
:c  which  are  thefe  :  In  the  year  1743  a  tranfient  perfon, 
'5  by  fhe  name  of  Nevins,  who  came  from  the  Weft  In- 
"  dies,  lodged  at  the  houfe  of  Nathaniel  Brown,  an  inn- 
"  keeper  in  this  city.  The  man  was  taken  very  fick  in 
"  the  night,  and  died  fhortly  afterwards  ;  and  his  body 
*'  was  very  yellow  after  death.  Mr.  Brown's  wife  fickened 
"  in  a  fliort  time,  and  died  of  the  fame  complaint,  which 
f*  was  at  that  time  fuppofed  to  be  the  yellow  fever. 

"  lam  credibly  informed  that  feveral  perfons  at  Mill-' 
"  river,  in  Fairfield  county,  and  alfo  at  New  London, 
"  died  with  the  yellow  fever  in  Auguft  and  September, 
c<  1795.  It  was  propagated  there  by  infeded  perfons 
«'  from  New  York. 

<c  Capt.  John  Smith  died  in  this  town,  the  2oth  of 
"  Auguft,  1795.  He  caught  the  difeafe  in  New  York, 
"  and  communicated  it  to  one  of  his  negro  fervants." 

On  the  whole,  Dr.  Monfon  concludes,  "  that  the  yel- 
e  low  fever  is  feldom  or  never  generated  in  this  country, 
"  and  that  it  is  always  imported  from  abroad.  An  ob- 
tc  jeftion  to  the  idea  of  its  being  generated  in  this  coun- 
<c  try  is,  that  it  was  never  known  in  the  interior  of  this 
"  ftate,  or  of  the  United  States,  fo  far  as  I  can  learn. 
f?  Had  it  ever  appeared  in  Connecticut  before  the  year 
*G  1743,  and  June  1794,  we  fliould  undoubtedly  have 


446  A    TREATISE    ON 

u  had  fome  record  of  the  fact.  There  is  no  fuch 
"  record,  and  no  perfon  remembers  to  have  heard  of 
*c  fuch  a  difeafe,  but  at  thefe  periods,  prevailing  in  any 
"  part  of  the  ftate.  There  are  numbers  of  aged  perfons 
"  in  New  Haven  who  remember  the  putrid  ulcerous  fore 
*6  throat,  fmall  pox,  meafbs,  dyfentery,  &c.  raging  here 
"  with  great  mortality,  but  have  no  recollection  of  any 
"  yellow  fever.  Hence  we  may  rationally  conclude  that 
"  it  never  did  appear  in  this  ftate  but  in  the  years  1743 
"  and  1794. 

"  It  is  evident,  from  facts  before  mentioned  in  this 
"  letter,  that  the  yellow  fever  was  propagated  in  no  other 
<c  way  than  by  contagion,  and  that  this  is  a  fpecifa  con* 
*'  tagton*  and  no  more  diverfified,  in  its  operation  on  the 
*'  human  fjftem,  than  that  of  the  fmall  pox  and 
"  meafles. 

"  If  the  citizens  of  large  commercial  cities  were  atten- 
"  tive  in  tracing  the  origin  of  the  yellow  fever,  on  its 
<c  firft  appearing  among  them,  they  would  often  find 
4*  that  the  difeafe  was  imported.  In  fome  inftances  it 
"  would  be  extremely  difficult  to  difcover  the  origin. 
*'  But  the  mifchief  lies  in  this  ;  that  the  inhabitants  of 
"  fuch  cities,  whenever  a  contagious  difeafe  makes  its 
"  appearance  among  them,  endeavour  to  fupprefs  all 
<s  rumour  of  it,  from  an  apprehenfion  of  alarming  the 
^  country,  and  injuring  their  commerce  ;  unwilling 
**  to  believe  that  there  is  evil  in  the  city,  till  the  dileafe 
**  fpreads  in  every  direction.  Then,  indeed,  when  it  is 
"  too  late,  they  are  felicitous  in  the  ufe  of  means  to  ar- 
^  reft  its  progrefs.  As  it  extends  itfelf  flowly  at  firft, 
"  feafonable  exertion  might  both  detect  its  fource,  and 
"  prevent  its  increafe  ;  but  when  it  is  difTufed  through 
"  a  city,  it  fpreads  with  rapidity,  and  it  is  no  longer  pof- 
*<  fihlc  to  difcover  where  it  began.  But  as,  whenever 
**  the  yellow  fever  has  appeared  in  the  United  States, 
"  it  has  always  been  in  fca-port  towns,  and  originated 
<e  near  wharves,  docks,  and  warehoufes,  there  feems  to 
"  be  high  probability  that  the  difeafe  is  imported." 

The  evidence  here  feems  fo  ftrong,  that  no  counter- 
evidence  that  can  be  brought  appears  likely  to  invalidate 

it. 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER.  447 

it.  The  coincidence  of  the  commencement  of  the  fever 
with  the  arrival  of  the  (hip  hath  not  been  denied,  as  in 
other  cafes  ;  and,  though  it  has  been  attempted  to  prove 
that  a  fever  might  have  arifen  from  the  quantity  of  pu- 
trid or  putrefcent  matters  at  that  time  in  the  town,  yet 
the  circumftances  of  thofe  who  were  prefent  at  the  open- 
ing of  the  cheft  of  clothes  being  taken  with  the  fever, 
and  thofe  who  were  fuk  of  it  in  fo  many  cafes  infecting 
one  another,  cannot  by  any  means  be  overthrown.  But 
the  fact  is,  that  even  thofe  who  contend  mod  violently 
againft  importation,  do  yet  allow  that  it  may  in  fome  ca- 
fes be  fo  ;  but  they  contend  that  if  proper  care  be  taken 
it  will  not  fpread.  Dr.  Smith  in  his  letter  to  Dr.  Buel 
fays,  "  that  infection  may  be  brought  into  any  place 
"  from  abroad  ;  that,  under  certain  circumftances  of  the 
46  place  where  it  is  introduced,  it  becomes  very  deftruc- 
"  tive  ;  but  that,  when  thefe  circumftances  do  not  ex- 
"  ift,  however  the  perfon  immediately  affected,  if  it  be 
"  introduced  by  a  Tick  perfon,  may  fuff.T,  it  is  harmlefs 
"  fo  far  as  the  general  health  of  that  place  is  concerned. 
"  If  the  fubject  were  viewed  in  this  light,  as  moft  af- 
"  furedly  it  ought  to  be,  the  queftion  of  importation  or 
"  non-importation  would  (ink  into  its  merited  iniignifi- 
"  cance."  But,  with  due  refpect  to  the  memory  of  Dr. 
Smith,  this  mull  furely  be  accounted  a  very  inconfide- 
rate  mode  of  reafoning.  In  the  inftance  he  fpeaks  of, 
that  of  the  Zephyr  lately  mentioned,  he  allows  that  Dr. 
Treat  might  have  caught  the  difeafeon  board  the  veffel,* 
"  but  (fays  he)  zsno other  perfon  is  known  to  have  been 
"  infected  by  that  veffcl,  and  as  the  Doctor  communi- 
"  catc-d  it  to  no  perfon,  the  advocates  for  importation 
"  would  not  be  greatly  benefited  by  the  conceffion." 
Surely  we  muft  look  upon  the  life  of  Dr.  Treat  himfelf 
to  have  been  a  matter  not  entirely  infignificant,  and  if 
he  caught  the  fever  by  going  on  board,  a  number  of  others 
who  went  in  full  confidence  of  the  impqffibility  of  im- 
portation, might  have  done  the  fame.  As  far  therefore 
as  the  prevention  of  fuch  accidents  can  be  accounted  a 
matter  of  importance,  it  is  alfo  of  importance  to  believe 

the 

•  Webfter's  CoHeSion,  p.  9$. 


A    TREATISE    ON 

the  do&rine  of  imported  contagion.  It  is  true,  Df; 
Smith,  in  the  paiTage  juft  quoted,  adds  immediately  af- 
ter, that  "  no  fuch  conceffion  (with  regard  to  Dr.  Treat) 
isneceflary ;"  but,  in  p,  104,  he  does  make  an  ample  con- 
ceffion, as  we  have  feen,  viz,  that  the  contagion  may  not 
only  be  imported,  but,  under  certain  circqmftances,  bevc^ 
tya&iveanddeftruElive.  The  queftion  therefore  fefts  here  : 
Can  we  at  all  times  promife  that,  with  the  utmcft  care 
that  can  be  taken,  the  circumstances  of  a  place  may  not 
be  fuch  as  to  give  activity  to  an  imported  contagion  ?  In 
the  nature  of  things  ifc  is  impoffible  that  the  docks, 
wharves,  ftreets  and  alleys  of  a  large  town  can  be  abfo- 
lutely  clean.  It  is  equally  impoffible  that  all  men  can 
be  advifed  to  be  temperate,  cleanly,  and  neat  in  their 
lodgings ;  and  we  are  unable  to  determine  how  far  peo- 
ple may  deviate  from  the  rule  of  right  in  thofe  refpects 
without  danger.  Before  any  theory  of  this  kind  could 
be  fupported,  it  would  beabfolutely  neceflHry  to  bring 
an  unequivocal  proof  that  yellow  fever  had  been  in  one 
inftance  at  lead  produced  by  local  caufes;  but  this  can- 
not be  done.  Among  the  Hottentots,  the  dirtied  peo- 
ple in  the  world,  no  fuch  difeafe  exifts.  Among  the 
peafants  of  Poland,  who  likewife  live  in  a  very  dirty 
manner,  their  mode  of  life  is  faid  to  produce  not  a  fe- 
ver, but  a  difeafe  of  the  hair,  called  the  plica  Polonica; 
In  the  Medical  Repofitory,  vol.  i,  p.  276,  Dr.  Mitchilf 
of  New  York  describes  a  difeafe  called  elcphantiafi$y  lik- 
traa,  or  f curvy,  occafioned  by  loathfome,  putrefying  diet, 
fuch  as  rotten  fifh,  filh -livers  and  roe,  fat  and  train  of 
whales  and  fea-dogs,  congealed  four  milk,  with  little  or 
no  vegetable  provifions,  and  by  expofure  to  wet  and 
cold.  This  difeafe  prevails  in  Iceland,  in  the  Ferro 
iflands,  in  two  diftricbs  of  Sweden,  and  in  Madeira;  yet 
this  difeafe  is  not  the  yellow  fever,  though  it  is  faid  to 
make  the  pcrfon  affli&ed  with  it  more  like  "  a  putrefy- 
ing corpfe  than  a  living  man."  The  cold  feems  to  be 
affigned  as  a  reafon  why  the  difeafe  does  not  affume  a 
febrile  form  ;  bat,  however  this  may  hold  with  Iceland, 
it  cannot  with  Sweden,  where  the  fummer  is  fo  hot,  that 
the  fun  has  been  (aid  to  fet  forefts  on  fire*  This  is  pro- 
bably 


f  tf  E  YELLOW  FEVER.  449 

Bably  a  fable  ;  but  we  are  affured  by  Pontoppiddan,  in 
his  Natural  Hiftory  of  Norway*  a  country  to  the  full  as 
cold  as  Sweden,  that  in  fummer  the  heat  is  very  great. 
His  expreffion  is,  that  it  is  enough  to  "  make  a  raven 
gape."  As  to  Madeira,  where  the  climate  is  warm,  there 
can  be  no  fuch  objection.  But  a  particularity  of  this  dif- 
eafe  is,  that  it  is  infectious.  Suppofing  then  that  by  any 
means  it  fhould  be  exalted  into  a  fever,  have  we  any  rea- 
fon  to  imagine  that  in  fuch  a  cafe  it  would  lay  afide  its  in- 
fed  ious  property  ?  Surely  not.  If  this  then  is  the  cafe  with 
a  difeafe  produced  by  the  fame  cauftfs  with  the  yellow 
fever,  we  have  the  very  fame  reafon  to  fdffrpofe  that  the 
latter  is  infectious,  as  that  the  former  would  be  fo  if  it 
could  lay  afide  its  prefent  form,  and  aflume  that  of  fe- 
ver. Another  proof  that  mere  dirtinefs  cannot  at  all 
times  produce  a  diftempef,  or  even  propagate  its  infec- 
tion, may  be  deduced  from  the  fixth  cafe  quoted  p.  355 
from  Dr.  RuiTel,  where  he  fays  that  a  poor  Jewifh  fami- 
ly lived  in  a  place  fuch  as  he  had  always  confidered  as 
one  of  the  receptacles  of  contagion,  yet  only  one  in  fix 
of  thofe  who  remained  in  it  was  taken  with  the  plague. 
In  all  cafes  of  plague,  or  of  violent  epidemic  di (orders, 
it  has  indeed  been  obferved  that  the  poor  were  more 
fubjecl:  to  an  attack  than  the  rich.  This  was  fo  remark- 
able in  the  plague  of  London  in  1665  that  Dr.  lodges 
fays  it  was  called  the  poor's  plague  ;  and  Dr.  Ferriar  tells 
us  from  Diemefbroeckj  that  in  fome  parts  of  Italy  it  was 
cuftomary  in  the  beginning  of  a  peftilence  to  drive  out 
the  poor ;  and  likewife  that  this  cruel  expedient  was  ufed 
at  Marfeilles.  The  bad  fuccefs  of  the  experiment  at  this 
lad  place,  however,  fhows  that  people  of  any  defcription, 
and  in  any  circumftances,  may  be  attacked.  A  very 
probable  caufe,  entirely  diftinft  from  any  mode  of  living, 
may  be  affigned  in  this  cafe,  viz.  that  the  poof  are  more 
expofed  to  infection  than  others,  both  from  their  cir- 
cumftances and  therr  rafhnefs  ;  for  it  will  be  evident  to 
thofe  who  converfe  with  the  moft  uninformed  people  of 
any  country,  that  the  TurkiQi  notion  of  predeftination 
is  far  from  being  confined  to  Mahometans.  It  is  not* 
however,  denied,  that  dirtinefs,  as  well  as  other  local 

M  m  m  caufes, 


453  A   TREATISE    ON 

caufes,  may  do  much  hurt,  and  oceafion  the  fpreading  oi 
a  difeafe  which  otherwife  would  not  fpread  ;  becaufe 
•uncleannefs  of  all  kinds  feems  to  be  the  proper  vehicle 
of  infection,  in  which  it  appears  to  delight  to  take  up  its 
abode.  In  the  Medical  Extracts,  voh  ii,  p.  174,  we 
have  from  Goldfmith  the  following  anecdote  concerning 
the  concentration  of  peflilential  infe&ion  in-  the  plague 
of  London  : 

"  A  pious  and  learned  fchoolmafter,  who  ventured  to 
EC  ftay  in  the  city  during  the  plague,  and  took  upon  him- 
"  felf  the  humane  office  of  viliting  the  tick  and  dying  who 
'  had  been  ddlbrted  by  better  phyficians,  averred,  that, 
*'  being  once  called  to  a  poor  woman,  who  had  buried 
c  her  children  of  the  plague,  he  found  the  room  where 
"  Ihe  lay  fo  little,  that  it  cou-ld  fcarce  hold  the  bed  on 
"  which  {he  was  ftretched.  However,  in  this  wretched 
41  abode,  befide  her,  in  an  open  coffin,  her  hufband  lay, 
*'  who  had  fbrae  time  before  died  of  the  diftemper,  and 
"  whom  me  foon  followed.  What  (hewed  the  peculiar 
*'  malignity  of  the  air,  thus  fuffering  from  human  miaf- 
"  mata  or  effluvia,,  was,  that  the  contagious  fteams  had 
*c  produced  fpots  on  the  very  wall  of  their  wretched 
**  apartment.  And  Mr.  Boyle's  own  ftudy,  which  was 
<c  contiguous  to  a  peft-houfe,  wasalfo  fpotted  in  the  fame 
"  frightful  manner."  This  mows  not  how  infection  may 
be  produced^  but  how  it  may  be  concentrated  in  fuch 
miferable  apartments.  The  appearance  on  the  walls 
brings  to  remembrance  what  is  faid  in  the  book  of  Le- 
viticus concerning  the  appearance  of  the  Icprofy  in  walls 
and  clothes. 

But,  fuppofing  we  fliould  allow  that  dirtinefs  may- 
bring  on  a  yellow  fever  (and  it  is  plain  that  this  cannot 
be  proved)  we  have,  in  the  cafe  of  the  Bufbridge  Jndia- 
inan,  a  dtmorflration  that  cleanlinefs  cannot  keep  it  off.* 
This  veilel  failed  from  England  for  the  Eaft  Indies,  in 
the  year  1792,  much  about  the  fame  time  that  the 
Hankey  failed  for  the  coaft  of  Africa.  She  had  on 
board  264  people  in  all,  viz.  109  belonging  to  the  (hip's 
company,  130  recruits,  and  25  pailengers.  She  had 

very 

*  Annals  of  Medicine*  vc»J.  3>  p.  166. 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER.  451 

very  boifterous  weather  at  firft  fetting  out,  but  crofled 
the  equator  on  the  26th  of  May,  where  the  weather  was 
fultry,  with  heavy  mowers  of  rain.  The  difeafe  now 
made  its  appearance  firft  among  the  recruits,  and  in  a 
fortnight  fpread  among  the  fhip's  company.  It  was  com- 
mon for  fix  or  feven  to  be  attacked  with  it  daily  from 
the  commencement ;  "  and  in  thefpace  of  twelve  weeks 
"  almoft  every  perfon  in  the  fhip  not  only  had  laboured 
"  under  it,  but  many  had  fuHcred  repeated  relapfes." 
For  fevcral  weeks  the  weather  was  hot  and  fultry  j  but, 
when  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  they 
experienced  a  reverfe,  and  were  driven  by  a  ftorm  as 
high  as  S.  lat.  42.  Here  the  thermometer  indicated  a 
temperature  only  13°  above  froft,  but  no  material  change 
in  the  difeafe  took  place.  Afterwards,  when  returning 
into  the  warm  latitudes,  they  experienced  the  fultry  heats 
of  the  Atlantic  without  any  change  either  for  the  better 
or  the  worfe,  and  this  for  no  iefs  a  fpace  than  three 
months. 

As  to  the  origin  of  the  difeafe,  Mr.  Bryce  the  furgeon,, 
though  inclined  to  afcribe  it  to  contagion,  could  not 
trace  it  to  any  origin  of  that  kind,  as  the  veflel  had  been 
fix  weeks  at  fea  before  it  appeared.  It  "  could  not  be 
"  afcribed  to  want  of  air  or  cleanlinefs,  as  every  poffible 
"  attention  had  been  ufed  to  preierve  thefe :  the  different 
"  apartments  were  thoroughly  cleaned  and  fumigated 
"  with  wetted  gun-powder ;  the  decks  were  fprinkled 
"  with  boiling  vinegar;  and  the  windfalls  were  attentive- 
"  ly  kept  in  order  at  each  hatchway.  Mr.  Bryce  is  in- 
"  clined  to  conjecture  that  a  peculiar  combination  in  the 
"  circumftances  of  diet,  lituation,  and  date  of  the  atmo- 
"  fphere,  may  have  given  rife  to  this  calamity.  But  the 
"  fame  combination  of  circumftances  fo  frequently  takes 
"  place  without  any  fever,  that  it  appears  much  more 
"  probable  the  difsafe  had  its  origin  either  from  an 
"  imported  fomes,  or  from  a  femes  generated  in  fome  indi- 
"  in  dual  in  the  fliip,  from  whence  it  was  afterwards 
<c  propagated  to  others  by  contagion"'  The  difeafe  pro- 
duced on  Aboard  the  fhip  was  not  contagious  to  the 
people  on  board  another  veflel  with  whom  they  had 

communication, 


45*  A    TREATISE   ON 

communication,  nor  to  the  people  afhore  among  whom 
the  convalefcents  were  put,  nor  to  new  pafiengers  taken 
on  board  the  veflel  in  the  Eaft  Indies ;  circumftances 
certainly  not  a  little  furprifing. 

It  doth  not  therefore  appear,  that,  without  the  inter- 
vention of  fome  other  caufe,  mere  dirtinefs  can  produce 
the  yellow  fever.  Let  us  next  fee  what  can  be  done  by 
confinement,  want  of  air,  or,  as  it  has  been  lately  called, 
abftra&ion  of  oxygen.  On  this,  however,  we  muft  ob- 
ferve,  that  in  all  cafes  where  people  are  allowed  to 
breathe,  their  lungs  muft  be  filled  with  the  due  quantity 
of  fame  elaftic  fluid.  If  the  fluid  they  breathe  contains 
a  fmailer  quantity  of  oxygen,  it  muft  contain  a  greater 
quantity  of  famething  elfe.  If  adifeafe  therefore  is  pro- 
duced, it  muft  be  occafioned  by  the  prefence  of  that 
other  fluid,  as  well  as  by  the  abfence  of  oxygen.  Now, 
in  confined  air,  we  know  that  not  only  the  oxygen  is  di- 
minifhed,  and  confequently  a  larger  proportion  of  azote  or 
fepton  mixed  with  it,  but  in  addition  to  this  increafed 
proportion  of  azote,  there  is  alfo  a  pofitive  augmentation 
of  the  deleterious  part  of  the  atmofphere  by  the  effluvia 
from  the  bodies  of  thofe  who  are  confined.  Theie  ef- 
fluvia, as  we  have  feen,  p.  90,  contain  a  great  quantity 
of  fixed  air.  Others  have  mown  that  they  contain  alfo 
azote  5  and  it  may  be  fo;  but  ftill  we  are  fure  that  the 
fixed  air  predominates.  Befides  this,  from  the  breath 
we  know  that  a  great  quantity  of  aqueous  moifture  pro- 
ceeds. Experiments  on  the  aftion  of  thefe  different 
kinds  of  fluids  are  yet  in  an  imperfeft  (late,  yet  fome 
important  fa<5ts  relating  to  them  are  known,  i.  Oxy- 
gen breathed  in  great  proportion  produces  an  augmen- 
tation of  heat,  and  proves  an  univerfal  ftimulant.  See  p. 
1 1 8.  By  itfelf  it  quickens  the  pulfe-.*  2.  Pure  fixed  air 
breathed  by  itfelf  deft roys  life  with  the  circumftances  of 
increafed  heat,  rarefadtion  of  the  blood,  and  rupture  of 
the  veflTels.  See  p.  206.  3.  The  circumftances  attend- 
ing death  by  breathing  azote  are  not  particulaly  record- 
ed j 

*  In  the  Medical  Extracts  we  find  it  recorded,  that  a  young  gentleman 
having  breathed  pure  oxygen  for  feverai  minutes,  hispuUei  which  was  before 
64,  foon  beat  i3o(  in  a  minute. 


TH£  YELLOW  FEVER.  453 

ed  j  but  we  know  that  by  breathing  an  atmofphere  low- 
ered  by  it  the  contumptive  fever  is  not  increafed,  but 
diminished  ,  and  there  is  an  account  in  the  Medical  An- 
nals of  a  perfon  who  was  perfectly  cured  of  a  confumf> 
tion  by  the  fmell  of  the  bilge-water  of  a  {hip.    4.  It  has 
formerly  been  0iown,  from  Dr.  Black's  experiments,  that, 
when  the  vapour  of  water  is  condenfed  in  the  body,  a 
great  quantity  of  heat  muft  be  thus  communicated  to 
it.     In  confined  air  therefore  there  is  a  diminution  of 
the  oxygen  which  produces  heat ;    but  there   is  an  aug- 
mentation of  the  fixed  air  and  of  the  aqueous  moifture 
which  increafes  it  ;    fo  that,  on  the  whole,  the  balance 
muft  be  confidered  as  in  favour  of  the  augmentation  of 
heat  in  the  human  body  ;  not  to  mention  the  quantity 
of  fenfible  heat  continually  added  to  the  atmofphere  by 
that  which  evaporates  from  the  body.     This  pofition, 
however,  doth  not  (land  upon  the  uncertain  ground  of 
theory  j    it  is   confirmed   by   the  following  remarkable 
facl: :    Commodore  Billings,  who  commanded  a  Ruffian, 
expedition  fitted  out  by  the  late  emprefs,  found,  in  his 
travels  through  the  northeaftern  part  of  Afia,  that  the 
cold  of  the  atmofphere  exceeded  not   only  what    was 
known  in  other  climates,  but  even  what  moft  people  had 
been  able  to  produce  by  freezing  mixtures.     Dr.  Gu- 
thrie  informs  us  that  he  was  unable  to  produce  a  greater 
degree  of  cold  than  36  below  o  of  Reaumur,  though  af 
fifted  by  20  below  o  of  natural  cold,  and  the   power  of 
all  the  freezing  mixtures  he  knew.     u  How  much  then 
"  (fays  he)  was  I   furprifed   to  hear  Mr.  Billings  aflert, 
"•  that  fome  fpirit  thermometers  which  he  had  with  him, 
"  graduated  according  to  Reaumur's  fcale,  were  often  as 
c  low  as  40°  below  the  freezing  point  of  water,  that  is, 
e  8  deg.  below  the  freezing  point  of  mercury.     And 
<c  once  or  twice  he  obferved  them  at  42  deg.  below  the 
"  freezing  point  of  ynickfilver*  "  During 

*  This  account  is  taken  from  the  Annals  of  Medicine  for  1 798,  and  appears 
in  a  letter  from  J>r.  Gutfciic  at  Peterfburg  to  Dr.  Duncan  at  iidinburgh-  It 
is  drawn  up  with  fuch  ajlonijhing  inaccuracy,  that  we  may  well  be  furprifed 
how  the  one  phyfician  fliould  write,  and  the  other  print  it.  There  feerns  in 
the  firft  place  to  have  been  a  miftake  of  Reamur's  thermometer  for  Fahren- 
heit's. But  even  this  will  not  reftify  the  account.  The  xero  or  (o)  on  Reau- 
?nur's  fcile  is  the  freshing  point  qf  water ;  on  Fahrenheit's  it  is  the  ccld  PFO- 


454  A    TREATISE    ON 

"  During  this  fevere  cold  (probably  42  below  o  of 
•*  Fahrenheit)  the  Nomade  TchurJki  (a  wandering  na- 
"  tion  on  the  northeaftern  extremity  of  th«  Afiatic  con- 
"  tinent)  who  were  conducing  him  along  the  coaft  of 
"  the  Frozen  ocean,  in  fledges  drawn  by  rein-deer,  en^ 
"  camped  every  night  on  the  frozen  fnow  in  low  tents, 
"  which  they  quickly  formed  with  the  fkins  of  rein-deer, 
cc  fpreading  fome  of  them  on  the  furface  of  the  fnow,  on 
"  which  they  all  ilept ;  and  he  aiTured  me,  that,  fo  far 
"  from  fufTering  from  cold  during  the  night,  the  heat 
"  was  fo  exceffive  in  thefe  fur  tents,  where  from  ten  to 
"  fifteen  ilept  together,  according  to  itsdimenftons,  that 
"  no  one  could  bear  even  a  fliirt  j  but  all  lay  in  a  vio- 
*<  lent  perfpiration,  naked  as  they  were  born,  till  dawn 
"  of  day,  without  the  aid  of  fire,  excepting  a  train-oil 
"  lamp,  which  lighted  each  tent." 

From  this  account  it  feems  pretty  evident,  that,  by 
the  accumulation  of  animal  effluvia,  a  heat  may  be  com- 
municated to  the  atmofphere  greater  than  that  of  the 
human  body.  We  cannot  fuppofe  the  heat  of  the  tent 
which  put  the  people  in  a  violent  perfpiration  to  have 
been  lefs  than  90°  of  Fahrenheit ;  and,  fuppofing  the  tem- 
perature of  the  external  atmofphere  to  have  been  at  a 
medium  30°  below  o,  there  mud  have  been  a  genera- 
tion of  120  degrees  of  heat ;  but  the  heat  of  the  human 
body  does  not  exceed  97  degrees,  and  it  cannot  com- 
municate more  heat  than  it  has.  But  we  muft  fuppofe 
the  tents  to  have  been  capable,  had  they  been  filled  to 
the  top,  of  containing  twice  the  number  who  did  fleep 
in  them.  They  could  communicate  to  the  air  therefore 

only 

ctuced  by  a  mixture  of  fait  and  fnow,  32  degrees  below  the  freezing  point  of 
water.  The  freezing  point  of  quickfilver  has  been  fixed  at  39,  39^  0140 
degrees  below  the  cold  produced  by  fait  and  fnow.  When  the  themometer 
therefore  fell  to  40  deg.  below  the  freezing  paint  of  water,  it  was  only  eight 
degrees  below  the  cold  of  fait  and  fnow,  and  not  equal  to  the  congelaT 
lion  of  mercury  by  more  thaix  thirty  degrees.  The  difference  between  this 
and  f<,rty-ti+>o  degrees  below  the  freezing  point  of  quicklilver  is  enormous 
and  incredible.  It  indicates  a  degree  of  cold  hitherto  unobferved  on  the  face 
y>f  the  earih,  and  fcarccly  equalled  by  the  lateft  experiments  made  at  Hudfon'e 
•.•here,  by  means  of  vitriolic  acid  and  fnow,  the  thermometer  was  made 
jo  indicate  a  degree  of  cold  40  degrees  below  the  freezing  point  of  quicklilver. 
5  he  inaccuracy  and  confufion  of  this  account,  however*  does  not  aifeft  the 
autnt  p.-m  relative  to  Mr.  Billings'*  journey. 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER.  455 

only  one  half  of  97  degrees,  or  48-^-  °  ;  the  remaining 
714  °  therefore  muft  been  derived  from  the  breath  and 
perfpiration  of  the  body.* 

Let  us  now  attend  to  the  confequences  which  muft 
naturally  and  undeniably  follow  from  this  fad:.  If,  in 
fuch  a  violently  cold  climate,  the  effluvia  of  fifteen  hu- 
man bodies  could  produce  a  heat  fufficient  to  induce  a 
violent  perfpiration,  what  would  they  not  have  done  had 
they  been  in  a  climate  where  the  heat  of  the  atmofphere 
was  upwards  of  an  hundred  degrees  greater,  or  between 
70  and  So  above  o  of  Fahrenheit  ?  Perhaps  this  was 
never  thoroughly  tried  except  in  the  black  hole  at  Cal- 
cutta. Here  an  hundred  and  forty-fix  men  and  one 
woman  were  enclofed  in  a  dungeon  only  18  feet  fquare, 
and  confequently  affording  fcarce  eighteen  inches  fquarc 
to  each.  This  happened  in  a  very  hot  climate,  in  the 
month  of  June  ;  fo  that  we  cannot  fuppofe  the  tempera- 
ture to  have  been  lefs  than  80°  of  Fahrenheit. 

On  being  confined  in  this  manner,  the  vital  powers 
endeavoured,  by  a  moft  profufe  perfpiration,  to  fend  off 
the  fuperfluoiis  quantity  of  heat  thrown  into  the  body. 
This  was  exactly  what  took  place  with  Dr.  Guthrie ;  but, 
in  the  cafe  of  the  black  hole,  there  was,  befides  the 
quantity  of  heat  produced  by  the  warmth  and  per- 
fpiration of  the  body,  an  hundred  and  ten  degrees  more  to  be 
added,  on  account  of  the  natural  heat  of  the  atmofphere. 
For  we  cannot  fuppofe  the  heat  at  Calcutta,  inafultry 
evening  in  the  month  of  June,  to  have  been  lefs  than 
80,  which  added  to  — 30,  fuppofed  to  be  the  temperature 
among  the  Tchutfki,  makes  110°.  The  perfpiration 
was  extremely  profufe,  and  was  foon  accompanied  with 
exceffive  thirit;  nature  being  unable  to  fupply  fuch  a 
quantity  of  liquid,  or  this  liquid  to  carry  off  the  heat  from 
the  body.  The  want  of  pure  air  began  then  to  be  felt 
by  a  difficulty  of  breathing  ;  and  Mr.  Holvvcll,  having  in 
defpair  retired  fr.om  the  window,  found  the  difficulty  of 
breathing  increafe,  attended  by  a  palpitation  of  the  heart. 
Aroufed  by  his  Offerings,  he  returned  and  was  relieved 

by 

*  Here  no  account  is  made  of  the  heat  that  the  very  cold  fnow  upon  which 
tliey  lay  m«(t  have  ablbrbed,  which  we  know  muft  have  been  very  confidera- 
bJe,  though  it  cannot  be  calculated. 


456  A    TREATISE 

by  drinking  fome  water,  and  having  air  at  the 
The  difficulty  of  breathing  diminifhed,  and  the  pal- 
pitation ceafed  ;  but,  finding  the  thirft  not  to  be  quench- 
ed by  water,  he  fucked  his  fhirt-fleevesj  which  were  wet 
with  fweat,  and  endeavoured  as  much  as  poflible  to  catch 
all  of  it  that  he  could.  The  tafte  was  foft  and  agreeable, 
A  pungent  ft  earn  was  now  felt  like  fpifit  of  hartfhorn. 
A  number  had  died,  and  Mr.  Holwell,  once  more  ren- 
dered defperate,  retired  from  the  window,  and  lay  down 
upon  a  bench,  where  he  foon  loft  all  fenfe.  Next  morn- 
ing only  23  furvived,  of  whom  Mr.  Holwell  was  one. 
He  revived  on  being  brought  out  ta  the  frem  air,  but 
was  inftantly  feized  with  a  putrid  fever,  as  well  as  all 
the  reft  of  the  furvivors.  In  this  fttuation  they  were 
obliged  to  walk,  loaded  with  fetters,  to  the  Indian  camp  ;- 
at  night  they  were  expofed  to  a  fevere  fain*  and  the  day 
following  to  a  fultry  fun ;  yet,  notwithftanding  this  ill 
treatment,  they  all  recovered  ;  having  an  eruption  of 
large  and  painful  both  all  over  the  body.  Mr.  Holwell,- 
however,  faid  that  he  never  afterwards  enjoyed  good 
health. 

Another  melancholy  proof  of  the  bad  confequences 
refulting  from  a  want  of  frefh  air  we  have  in  the  evi- 
dence given  by  Dr.  Trotter,  when  the  queftion  con- 
cerning the  flave  trade  was  agitated  before  the  Britifh 
Houfe  of  Commons.  He  depofed  that  the  ilaves  were 
confined  16  hours  out  of  24,  and  permitted  no  exercife 
while  on  deck.  They  were  kept  in  rooms  from  5  to  6 
feet  high,  imperfeclly  aired  by  gratings  above,  and  fmall 
fcuttles  in  the  fides  of  the  (hip,  which  could  be  of  no 
life  at  fea.  The  temperature  of  thefe  rooms  was  often 
above  96  of  Fahrenheit,  and  the  Doclor  fays  that  he 
never  could  breathe  in  them,  unlefs  juft  under  the  hatch- 
way. «'  I  have  often  (fays  he)  obferved  the  flaves  draw- 
"  ing  their  breath  with  all  the  laborious  and  anxious 
"  efforts  for  life  which  are  obferved  in  expiring  animals 
"  fubjecled  by  experiment  to  foul  air,  or  in  the  exhaufted 
"  receiver  of  an  air-pump.  I  have  often  feen  them, 
"  when  the  tarpaulings  have  been  inadvertently  thrown 
"  over  the  gratings,  attempting  to  heave  them  up,  cry- 

"  ing 


THE  YELLtiW  FEVER:  457 

**  ing  out,  in  their  own  language, c  We  are  fufFocated  i* 
*'  Many  I  have  feen  dead,  who,  the  night  before,  had 
"  fhown  no  figns  of  indifpofition;  fome  alfo  in  a  dying 
*'  ftate*  and,  if  not  brought  up  quickly  on  the  deck, 
"  irrecoverably  loft.  Hence,  in  one  ihip,  before  her  ar- 
*'  rival  in  the  Weft  Indies,  out  of  650  ilaves,  more  than 
"  50  had  died,  and  about  300  were  tainted  with  the 
"  fea  fcurvy." 

A  third  example  of  the  effects  of  want  of  air,  though 
conjoined  with  other  caufes,  may  be  reckoned  the  cafe 
of  the  Hankey,  formerly  related.  The  people  there 
were  not  indeed  confined  as  much  as  in  the  black  hole, 
but  it  is  iaipofiible  to  fuppofe  that  there  could  be  a  pro- 
per circulation  of  air,  and  the  length  of  time  the  paffen- 
gers  were  confined  might  be  equivalent  to  the  violence 
of  the  caufe  in  the  cafe  of  the  black  hole.  In  the  lat- 
ter, however,  the  difeafe  produced  was  not  the  yellow 
fever,  but  feems  to  have  been  a  kind  of  non-defcript 
eruptive  one,  more  refembling  the  fmall  pox,  or  rather 
Job's  diftafe^  than  any  other.  From  Dr.  Chifholm's  ac- 
count of  the  Boullam  fever  alfo,  it  feems  to  have  been 
more  of  an  eruptive  nature  than  the  common  yellow  fe- 
ver ;  fo  much,  that  Dn  Chimolm  is  of  opinion  that  it 
partook  u  in  no  fmall  degree  of  the  nature  of  the  true 
plague."  He  fays  that  in  it  he  "  did  not  obferve  car* 
t uncles  on  any  who  died  ;  but  that  iw  many  who  reco- 
vered they  were  numerous,  large,  and  very  troublefome." 
He  confidered  them  alfo  as  a  critical  difcharge^  and  the 
enly  one  in  this  fever ;  but  in  the  plague  they  certainly 
are  not ;  neither  is  it  at  all  probable  that  they  were  of 
the  fame  nature  with  the  peftilential  carbuncles. 

In  p,  207  of  this  treadle  it  is  inferred,  from  fome  ex- 
periments of  Dr.  Davidion  and  Dr.  Chifhoim,  that  the  fe- 
vers in  warm  climates  are  not  owing  to  a  deficiency  of 
oxygen  in  the  atmofphere ;  but  in  a  treatife  on  the 
yellow  fever  in  Dominica  by  Dr.  Clarke,  we  have  other 
experiments,  which,  if  they  can  be  depended  upon,  cer- 
tainly overthrow  that  doctrine,  or  at  lead  render  it  very 
dubious.  'Dr.  Clarke  endeavoured  to  afcertain  the  puri- 
ty of  the  air  by  Mr,  Schcele's  apparatus,  and  which  was 

N  n  n  likewifc 


45?  A    TREATISE    ON 

likewife  ufed  by  Dr.  Davidfon,  viz.  filling  gallipots  witfs 
flowers  of  fulphur  and  iron  filings  well  mixed  and  moid- 
ened,  and  putting  thefe  upon  a  Hand  under  a  glafs  vef- 
fel,  which  was  placed  on  a  ftool  in  a  pail  of  water.  The 
glafs  veflel  was  marked  and  divided  on  the  outfide,and, 
alloxvance  being  made  for  the  fpace  occupied  by  the 
gallipot,  the  water  rofe  only  one  fifth  in  the  glafs  veffel, 
after  {landing  24  hours.  When  the  difeafe  abated,  it 
rofe  near  one  fourth  ;  and  upon  many  trials  afterwards 
it  never  rofe  above  one  fourth.  When  the  emigrants 
fled  towards  the  mountains,  where  the  air  is  very  pure, 
they  always  avoided  an  attack  of  fever,  or  foon  recover- 
ed if  in  a  convalefcent  ftate.  This  is  fimilar  to  what  is 
ilated  by  Van  Swieten  concerning  the  plague  at  Ocza- 
kow,  viz.  that  the  atmofphere  was  fo  loaded  with  fome 
kind  of  vapour,  that  in  certain  parts  of  the  town  polifh- 
ed  fword-blades  were  turned  black.  This  feems  to  have 
indicated  a  great  prevalence  of  inflammable  or  hepatic 
air,  or  both,  in  the  atmofphere  -y  but  it  is  extremely  doubt- 
ful whether  this  could  produce  a  fever,  much  lefs  the 
true  p/ague.  In  Dr.  Clarke's  experiments  it  were  to  be 
wifhed  that  he  had  examined  the  nature  of  that  part  of 
the  atmofphere  which  was  left  after  the  abforption  cf 
the  oxygen.  It  is  by  no  means  probable  that  at  any 
rate  the  addition  of  a  fifth  part  of  azote  could  have  ren- 
dered the  air  fo  unwholefome  ;  and  befides,  we  are  en- 
tirely at  a  lofs  whence  to  derive  fuch  an  immenfe  quanti- 
ty ;  for  certainly  the  quantity  of  air  which  furrounds  us, 
even  for  a  few  miles  extent,  is  fo  great,  that  any  confi- 
derable  alteration  in  its  compofition  could  not  take  place 
without  a  very  evident  caufe.  The  probability  there- 
fore is,  thaj  the  experiments  did  not  give  an  accurate 
flatement  of  the  quantity  of  oxygen  contained  in  the  at- 
mofphere. Experiments  on  this  fubjecl:  mud  always 
be  uncertain  ;  and  of  all  the  modes  of  trying  the  qua- 
lities of  the  air,,  perhaps  that  with  fulphur  and  iron  fil- 
ings is  mod  liable  to  variation.  It  may  vary,  from  the 
nature  of  the  fulphur,*  from  the  cleannefs  or  the  impu- 
rity 

*  If  fulphur  be  zjimple  fubftanee,  as  the  newchemifts  pretend,  there  ougbt 
never  to  be  any  variation  in  its  properties,  except  what  arlfes  from  mere  impu- 
rity* 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER. 

rity  of  the  iron  filings,  or  laftly  from  the  accuracy  of 
the  mixture.  It  is  alfo  a  misfortune  in  this  cafe,  that 
though  a  great  abforption  proves  the  exiftence  of  a  large 
quantity  of  oxygen  in  the  atmofphere,  yet  a  fmall  one 
does  not  prove  the  contrary ;  for  it  is  more  reafonable 
to  fuppofe  that  we  have  failed  in  our  experiment,  than 
that  the  conftitution  of  the  atmofphere  has  changed. 
Dr.  Clarke's  experiments  therefore  cannot  prove  an7 
thing,  until  more  accurate  methods  of  inveftigating 
thefe  things  be  found  out. 

We  muft  now  proceed  to  inveftigate  a  third  caufe  af- 
figned  for  the  production  of  fever,  and  that  is  the  putre- 
faction of  animal  and  vegetable  fubftances.  This  hath 
been  very  much  infifted  on.  Dr.  Rum  afcribes  the  fe- 
ver of  1 793  to  the  exhalations  of  putrid  coffee,  but  allows 
alfo  the  diftemper  to  have  been  contagious,  and  fays, 
that  "  for  feveral  weeks  there  were  two  fources  of  infec- 
66  tion,  viz.  exhalation  and  contagion.  The  exhalatioa 
"  infected  at  the  diftance  of  three  or  four  hundred  yards, 
"  while  the  contagion  infected  only  acrofs  the  ftreets. 
"  The  more  narrow  the  ftreet,  the  more  certainly  the 
"  contagion  infected.  Few  efcaped  it  in  alleys.  After 
*6  the  I5th  of  September  the  atmofphere  of  every  ftreet 
<c  was  loaded  with  contagion ;  and  there  were  few  citi- 
"  zens  in  apparent  good  health,  who  did  not  exhibit  one 
"  or  more  of  the  following  marks^of  it  in  their  bodies : 
cs  i.  Yellownefs  in  the  eyes,  ana  fallow  colour  on  the 
ic  ikin.  2.  Preternatural  quicknefs  in  the  pulfe.  3.  Fre- 
"  quent  and  copious  difcharges  by  the  ikin  of  yellow 
"  fweats.  4.  A  fcanty  difcharge  of  high-coloured  or 
*'  turbid  urine.  £.  A  deficiency  of  appetite,  or  a  pre- 
"  ternatural  increafe  of  it.  6.  Coftivenefs.  7.  Wake- 
"  fulnefs.  8.  Head-Ach.  9.  A  preternatural  dilata- 

"  tion 

rity ;  but  the  following  is  a  remarkable  inftance  to  the  contrary:  Dr.  Craw- 
ford  (brother  to  the  celebrated  Adair  Crawford)  informed  me,  that  for  his  oil 
of  vitriol  works  at  Lifburn,  in  Ireland,  he  had  purchafed  five  tons  of  fulphur 
produced  from  copper  mines  in  the  iiland  of  Anglefey.  The  fulphur  looked 
well,  and  was  not  more  impure  than  what  he  commonly  ufed ;  butt  on  trial* 
the  produce  of  acid  fell  fo  much  Ihort  of  what  fee  had  been  accuftomed  to 
receive,  that  it  would  not  afford  the  expenle  of  manufa&uring.  An  experi- 
jrient  on  fuch  a  large  fcale  could  not  be  erroneous.  If  fulphur  is  a  fimple  fub- 
flance,  the  fa<3  is  unaccountable  :  if  it  is  compofed  of  phlogifton  and  acid,  an 
OTcr  proportion  of  the  former  will  esfjly  account  for  it. 


46a  A    TREATISE    ON 

"  tion  of  the  pupils Many  country  people  who 

"  fpent  but  a  few  hours  in  the  flrcets  in  the  day,  in  attend* 
"  ing  the  markets,  caught  the  difeafe,  and  fickened  and 
"  died  after  they  returned  home ;  and  many  others,  when; 
"  bufmefs  compelled  to  fpend  a  day  or  two  in  the  city 
"  during  the  prevalence  of  the  fever,  but  who  efcaped 
"  an  attack  of  it,  declared  that  they  were  indifpofed 
fc  during  the  whole  time  with  languor  or  head-ach." 

Thus,  according  to  our  author,  the  fever  of  1793  fa* 
gan  from  putrid  effluvia,  and  was  continued  by  contagion. 
But  many  attempts  have  been  made  to  prove  that 
putrid  effluvia  alone  both  begin  and  continue  it.  The 
limits  of  this  treatife  would  not  allow  (even  were  it  but 
beginning)  of  a  particular  account  of  all  that  has  been 
faid  upon  the  fubjccl: ;  neither  indeed  is  it  needful.  A 
{ingle  well  attefted  inftance  would  decide  the  matter  j 
but  we  have  already  feen  the  difficulty  of  procuring  that 
inftance  on  either  fide.  Certain  it  is,  that  we  have  in- 
ftances  of  the  yellow  fever  arifing  where  it  is  not  pretend- 
ed that  there  was  any  confiderable  collection  of  putrid 
matters.  In  the  Medical  Repository,  vol.  ii,  p.  149,  we 
find  an  account  of  the  yellow  fever  appearing  "  in  a  coun- 
*c  try  village,  near  a  frefh  river,  on  low  marjky  ground,  feven, 
"  miles  from  Portland,  fo  that  no  fufpicion  could  arife 
JJ  of  the  difeafe  being  imported.  Several  other  cafes  of 
<e  yellow  fever  occur^d  in  different  parts  of  the  coun- 
"  try.1*  This  ftands  on  the  authority  of  Dr.  Jeremiah 
Barker  of  Portland,  fo  that  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  its 
authenticity  ;  and  though  it  cannot  prove  that  the  yel- 
low fever  may  not  arife  from  putrid  effluvia,  yet  it  cer- 
tainly (hows  that  it  may  arife  without  them.  It 
does  the  fame  with  marfli  effluvia;  for  though  we  may, 
in  the  cafe  of  the  village,  fuppofe  that  the  rnarfliy  ground 
on  which  it  (lands  occafioned  the  difeafe  there,  yet  what 
fhail  we  affign  as  the  caufe  of  its  being  difperfed  in  dif- 
ferent parts  of  the  country,  where  there  were  neither 
marfhes  nor  rotten  beef?  The  proofs  indeed  of  animal 
effluvia  being  the  caufe  of  yellow  fever  are  fo  equivocal, 
that  Dr.  Davidfon*  fuppofes  putrid  vegatabk  matters  to 

be 

*  Medical  Repof,  vol.  I,  p,  170* 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER,  461 

fee  more  aftive  in  this  way  than  the  former.  For  this 
fuppofuion  he  gives  as  a  reafon,  that  Dr.  Rufh  has  ob- 
ferved,  that  butchers,  and  thofe  who  lived  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  fhambles,  fcavengers,  grave  diggers,  and 
others  of  (icnilar  employments,  efcaped  the  yeilow  fever 
in  Philadelphia.  Thefe,  the  Doctor  juftly  obferves,  were 
niore  expoled  to  what  he  calls  the  gazeous  oxyd  of  azote, 
than  any  other  ciafs ;  and  he  likewife  takes  notice,  that 
failors,  who  during  long  voyages  feed  on  putrefcent  food, 
which  might  be  (uppofed  to  produce  a  great  quantity  of 
this  acid,  are  thence  fubjecl:  tofcurvy,  a  difeafe  not  only 
different  from  fever,  but  entirely  oppolite  to  it.  This 
exemption  of  people  converfant  amons;  the  dead  has  been 
,alfo  taken  notice  of  by  Dr.  Mitchiil,*  who  brings  as 
an  argument  againft  the  contagious  nature  of  the  difeafe,, 
that  "  feven  men  belonging  to  the  alms-houfe  of  New 
5C  York  were  employed,  during  the  whole  of  the  fickly 
"  feafon  of  1798,  in  putting  the  perfons  dead  of  the 
?c  plague  (yellow  fever)  into  coffins,  and  though  they 
"  handled  in  the  courfe  of  their  fervice  upwards  of  Jive 
"  fe^/m/ corpfes,  in  different  ftages  of  putrefaction,  and 
"  though  they  were  much  incommoded  with  the  pefti- 
"  lential  quality  of  the  -air  in  the  rooms  they  entered,  and 
cc  frequently  were  obliged  to  vomit,  not  one  of  them  was 
"  fo  much  indifpofed,  during  the  whole  feafon,  as  to 
^  difcontinue  his  employment/*  This  is  no  dgubt  a 
very  remarkable  fad,  but  in  the  prefent  inftance  it 
proves  too  much  ;  for  if,  from  it,  we  conclude  that  the 
difeafe  is  not  contagious,  we  muft  alfo  conclude  that 
it  cannot  be  produced  by  putrid  animal  fubflances. 
Yet  in  the  very  next  fentence  Dr.  Mitchill  affurds  Dr. 
Currie,  <c  that  exhalations  from  corrupting  beef  and  fifh 
^  have  excited  ficknefs  as  malignant,  and  as  deadly,  as 
<;<  any  which  has  occurred."  If  exhalations  from  putre- 
fying beef  and  fifh  have  produced  this  (kknefs,  why  did 
not  exhalations  from  putrefying  hitman  bodies  do  the  fame  ? 
and  if  we  are  allured  that  the  latter  did  not,  we  have  as 
little  reafon  to  fuppofe  that  the  former  did;  unlefs  we 
cftablifh  a  difference  between  the  corrupting  flefh  of  one 

anirnal 

*  Medical  Repof,,  vol.  U> 


462,  A    TREATISE    ON 

animal  and  of  another,  which  no  experience  hath  coun- 
tenanced in  the  leaft. 

The  exemption  of  thofe  employed  in  burying  the  dead, 
even  in  the  true  plague,  is  obfervable.  Dr.  Caneftrinus 
fuppofed  it  might  be  owing  to  the  ufe  of  garlic,  which 
they  were  wont  to  bruife  and  rub  their  hands,  face  and 
bread  with,  and  likewife  to  chew,  before  they  entered 
into  an  infected  houfe ;  but  this  cannot  be  fuppofed  a 
very  powerful  antidote.  Dr.  Rufli  is  of  opinion  that 
grave  diggers  efcaped  in  Philadelphia  by  the  circum- 
ftance  of  their  digging  in  the  earth ;  and  he  fays  alfo 
that  fcarce  an  inftance  was  heard  of  thofe  employed  in 
digging  cellars  being  attacked  with  the  difeafe.  "  There 
*c  leems  to  be  Something  (fays  he)  in  the  frefh  earth, 
"  which  attracts,  or  deftroys,  by  mixture,  contagion  of 
«  every  kind.  Clothes  infected  by  the  fmall  pox  are 
*'  more  certainly  purified  by  being  buried  underground 
"  than  in  any  other  way.  Even  poifons,  are  rendered 
"  inert  by  the  action  of  the  earth  upon  them.  Dogs 
"  have  long  ago  eftablifhed  this  fact,  by  fcratching  a 
"  hole  in  the  ground  and  burying  their  limbs  or  nofes 
fc  in  it,  when  bitten  by  poifonous  Tnakes.  The  pra&ice, 
"  I  am  told,  has  been  imitated  with  fuccefs  by  the 
<c  fettlers  upon  new  lands  in  feveral  parts  of  the  United 
«'  States/' 

This  reafon  is  very  plaufible  for  the  exemption,  of 
fuch  as  work  in  the  ground,  from  contagion  ;  but  it  can- 
not do  for  fc  avengers  and  butchers,  who  by  the  nature 
of  their  employment  are  frequently  expofed  to  fleams 
from  the  vileft  matters.  We  may,  on  the  contrary,  de- 
rive ffom  thence  a  very  ftrong  argument  that  thefe 
fleams  are  by  no  means  eflentially  connected  with  con- 
tagion. We  have  already  feen  from  Dr.  Forclyce  (p. 
169  of  this  treatife)  that  contagion  or  infection  is  not 
the  object  of  fenfe.  Dr.  Rufh,  though  he  doth  not 
abfolutely  fay  that  the  contagion  of  the  yellow  fever 
hath  no  ftnelJ,  yet  informs  us,  that  "  the  fmell  of  the 
ic  contagion,  as  emitted  from  a  patient  in  a  clean  room, 
"  was  like  tfeat  of  the  fmall  pox,*  but  in  moft  cafes  of 

«  a  lefs 

*  Accoujlt  of  the  Bilious  Yellow  Fev«>p.  i»7» 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER.  463 

<e  a  lefs  difagreeable  nature.  Putrid  fmells  in  fick 
ec  rooms  were  the  effects  of  a  mixture  of  the  contagion 
"  with  fome  filthy  matters.  In  fmall  rooms,  crowded 
"  in  fome  inflances  with  four  or  five  fick  people,  there 
"  was  an  effluvium  that  produced  giddinefs,  ficknefs  at 
<c  the  ftomach,  a  weaknefs  of  the  limbs,  faintnefs,  and, 
"  in  fome  cafes,  a  diarrhoea.  The  contagion  adhered 
"  to  all  kinds  of  clothing.  It  was  in  no  inftance  commu- 
"  nicated  by  paper."  From  fo  great  authority  we  may 
certainly  conclude  that,  according  to  the  befl  observation, 
there  is  an  effential  difference  between  the  contagion  of 
a  difeafe  and  the  effluvia  of  a  putrefying  carcafe ;  and 
that,  though  the  latter  may  be  the  vehicle  of  the  for- 
mer, and  may  increafe  its  virulence,  either  by  being  partly 
affimilated  to  its  nature,  or  by  affording  it  a  proper  nidus 
for  concentrating  itfelf ;  yet  that  originally  the  one  is 
not  the  other ;  and,  though  contagion  may  bring  on  a 
fever  without  putrid  effluvia,  yet  putrid  effluvia  cannot 
do  fo  without  contagion.  With  regard  to  pure  conta- 
gion, I  fliall  here,  to  the  evidences  already  produced, 
fubjoin  the  teftimony  of  Dr.  Davidfon,  formerly  quoted. 
"  I  muft  declare*  (fays  he)  I  have  feen  the  difeafe  evi- 
"  dently  propagated  in  this  way  (by  contagion  ;)  but  in 
"  many  inftances  it  could  not  be  traced-  I  have  known 
"  three  cafes  of  the  fever  brought  on  by  perfons  bathing 
*c  in  the  fea  along  fide  the  veflel,  fome  diftance  from  the 
<c  (liore,  and  neglecting  to  dry  themfelves  properly  af- 
^  tervvards.  The  feminia  of  the  difeafe  were  here  pre- 
ff  fent,  and,  like  the  ele&rical  jar  charged,  required 
"  only  the  approach  of  a  conductor."  This  (hows  an 
amazing  fubtilty  and  diffufibility  ir^the  contagion, 
fcarcely  indeed  credible,  if  it  were  not  known  to  be 
equally  fubtile  in  other  cafes.  In  the  correfpondence 
between  Dr.  Haygarth,  of  Chefter  in  England,  and  Dr. 
Waterhoufe,,  profeflbr  of  medicine  at  Cambridge  near 
Bofton,  the  latter  informs  us,  from  Dr.  Rand,  that  by 
burning,  in  a  field  near  Charleftown,  the  bedding,  fur- 
niture, &c.  belonging  to  a  perfon  who  had  been  ill  of 
the  fmall  pox,  the  people  who  lived  in  the  wake  of  the 

fmoke 

f  Med.  Repof.  vol.  i*  p,  171. 


464  A 

fmoke  proceeding  from  it  were  attacked  with  the  (mail 
pox,  and  the  difeafe  fpread.  This  is  fimilar  to  an  ob- 
fervation  formerly  quoted  from  Huxbam  ;  but  the  fol- 
lowing are  much  more  remarkable  :  "  A  veffel  arrived  at 
"  Charleftown  from  Lifbon,  laden  with  fait,  and  lemonS 

[C  in  boxes.*  A  perfon  had  the  frnall  pox  on  board, 
u  and  the  fmall  pox  officers  would  not  fuffer  the  lemons 
"  to  be  fold,  without  being  fir  ft  unpacked  and  the  paper 

*  furrounding  each  lemon  taken  oft.  Thefe  papers  were 
:t  kept  by  themfeivcs  in.  a  ftorehoufe  for  fevera!  weeks  j 
"  and  after  this,  by  order  of  the  overfeers.?  they  were 

1  brought  out  and  burnt ;  when,  of  two  children  play.* 
:c  ing  round  the  fire,  one,  named  Manning,  took  the 
"  diforder,  and  broke  out  at  the  ufual  time.  .  .  . 

"  Dr.  Rand  was  called  to  a  lady,  whom  he  found  hot 
"  and  feverifh  with  a  violent  pain  in  her  head  and  back  ; 
'*  but  he  had  no  fufpicion  of  the  frnall  pox.  He  bled 

e  her,  and  a  Mrs.  Brandon  held  the  veffel  to  receive  the 
'*  blood,  forne  of  which  fpirted  on  her  hand  and  arm. 
"  Next  day  the  fmall  pox  appeared  on  the  lady  who 
lt  was  bled  ;  and  (he  was  of  courfe  immediately  feparated 
;t  from  Mrs.  Brandon  ;  notwithstanding,  in  twelve  or 
"  founeen  days,  Mrs.  Brandon  was  feized  with  the 
11  fmali  pox,  and  died.  Several  other  perfons  prefent 
"  were  alfo  liable  to  the  infection,  yet  no  one  took  the 
"  difeafe  but  this  woman,  who  flood  over  the  blood 
:e  while  it  was  running,  and  received  fome  on  her  arm, 
"  except  Mrs.  Benjamins,  to  whom  the  bafon  of  blood 
"  was  handed  over  the  bed,  who  alfo  took  the  fmall  pox 
;c  f»om  the  effluvia  of  the  blood.  The  fame  phyfician 
"  was  called  to Tne  child  of  Manning  (who  was  fuppofed 
*'  to  have  taken  the  fmall  pox  from  the  burning  of 
"  lemon- papers  as  aforefaid  ,)  he  found  the  child  bleed- 
"  ing  at  the  nofe  in  its  mother's  lap,  who  was  then  in 
"  the  ninth  month  of  her  pregnancy.  The  next  day 
"  the  fmall  pox  appeared  on  the  child,  and  it  was  of 
"  courfe  immediately  feparated  from  its  mother  and  all 
44  the  family  ;  neverthelefs,  in  about  fourteen  days  the 
cs  mother  was  feized  with  the  diforder,  and  not  long 

"  after 

*  Haygatt!l>'s  Sketch  of  t  Flan  to  exterminate  Gafual  Small^PojCi  vel.  n,  p>  *7* 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER. 

"  after  delivered  of  a  dead  child,  which  child  had  dtftinS 
"  eruptions  over  its  whole  body" 

Thefe  facts  are  of  the  utmoft  importance  in  determine 
ing  the  nature  of  contagious  difeafes.  In  conjunction 
with  others,  they  ihow  that  fuch  difeafes  originate  in 
the  blood,  and  from  thence  are  communicated  to  the 
reft  of  the  body*  They  (how  alfo,  that  the  contagion 
is  in  all  cafes  truly  fpecific,  and  immutable.  Thus  the 
contagion  of  the  fmall  pox,  whether  exifting  in  the  mat- 
ter of  a  puftule,  in  the  fmoke  of  burning  clothes  or  pa- 
per, or  in  the  effluvia  of  blood,  is  invariably  the  fame, 
and  never  produces  any  other  difeafe.  It  is  the  fame 
whether  applied  to  the  human  body,  or  to  that  of  a  brute 
animal ;  of  which  we  have  a  remarkable  inftance  in  the 
Medical  Repofitory,  vol.  i,  p.  258.  "  A  peafant  of  the 
"  county  of  EfTex,  in  England,  feeing  a  great  many 
"  children  carried  off  by  the  natural  fmall  pox,  was  de- 
"  firous  of  inoculating  his  two  boys  $  one  nine,  and  the 
"  other  twelve  years  old.  Not  being  able  to  employ  a 
"  furgeon,  he  collected  the  fcabs  of  a  child  then  fick  of 
"  the  difeafe,  powdered  them,  and  fprinkled  the  powder 
"  upon  flices  of  bread  and  butter.  The  two  fons  ate 
"  them,  and  gave  a  bit  to  the  houfe-dog.  They  had  a 
46  mild  fmall  pox,  and  got  well  without  any  remarkable 
"  accident.  The  dog  remained  fick  for  two  or  three 
"  days,  drank  a  great  deal,  and  refufed  to  eat ;  on  the 
"  fourth  he  had  a  very  decided  variolous  eruption  :  on 
*c  the  ninth  the  puftules  were  full  ripet  and  dried  up  and 
<£  fell  off  like  thofe* of  the  two  children.  An  Englifh 
"  author  fays  he  has  feen  the  fame  epidemic  in  a  flock 
"  of  fheep,  the  greater  part  of  which  were  infedted,  and 
;*  communicated  it  to  two  cows,  one  of  which  died. 
4<  The  fypmtoms  that  manifefted  themfelves  in  thefe 
*'  animals  in  the  courfe  of  the  difeafe  were  in  every  refpe& 
:*  the  fame  as  in  the  human  fpecies." 

This  inftance,  partly  quoted  in  the  former  part  of  this 
treatife,likewife  is  a  ftrong  proof  of  the  contagion  of  fmall 
pox  being  fir  ft  communicated  to  the  blood  ;  for,  by 
(wallowing  it  along  with  the  aliment,  it  would,  in  the 
common  courfe  of  digeftion,  be  abforbed  by  the  lacte- 

O  o  o  alsa 


4'66  A   TREATISE    ON 

als,  and  enter  the  blood  with  the  chyle.  The  experi- 
ments with  dogs  made  by  M.  Deidier,  of  which  an  ac- 
count is  given  p.  268,  (how  that  the  contagion  of  the 
plague  is  equally  fpecific  with  that  of  the  fmall  pox ; 
and  we  fee  that  it  acted  in  all  cafes  in  which  it  was  tried 
by  being  mixed  with  the  blood.  Being  thus  firft  mixed 
with  the  blood,  it  is  plain  that  the  contagion  muft  have 
palled  from  this  fluid  to  all  the  other  parts  of  the  body  * 
and,  if  difeafed  blood  is  capable  of  communicating  its 
difeafe  to  all  the  found  parts  of  the  body  in  which  it 
circulates,  we  muft  own  that  this  ftrongly  corroborates 
Dr.  Waterhoufe's  fufpicion,  "  that  the  blood  is  capable 
of  producing  the  infection  before  the  difeafe  is  fo  far 
advanced  as  to  be  apparent  on  the  furface."  If  the  dif- 
eafe originates  in  the  blood,  the  latter  mould  indeed 
feem  more  capable  of  communicating  it  at  firft  than 
afterwards  -,  becaufe  we  muft  fuppofe  that  the  difeafed 
parts  would  be  thrown  off  to  the  furface,  and  fo  pafs  off 
altogether.  On  this  fubject  Dr.  Waterhoufe  alfo  quotes 
the  opinion  of  Dr.  Holyoke  of  Salem,  "  who,  for  his 
"learning,  profeffional  abilities  and  integrity,  isjuftly 
**  efteemed  one  of  the  firft  pbyficians  in  this  country, 
*c  and  whofe  extenfive  practice  has  afforded  him  ample 
**  experience  in  the  fmall  pox."  He  writes  to  Dr.  Wa- 
terhoufe, "  that,  although  he  has  reafon  to  believe  that 
"  an  infe&ed  perfon  feldom  gives  the  difeafe  till  after 
"  the  eruption  is  confiderably  advanced,  yet. there  are 
"  facts  which  make  it  probable  that  it  is  fometimes 
"  communicated  earlier." 

In  the  fame  letter  Dr.  Waterhoufe  gives  other  inftan- 
ces  of  the  inconceivable  fubtilty  of  variolous  contagion, 
no  lefs  remarkable  than  thofe  already  mentioned.  One 
is  of  Dr.  Brattle,  who,  having  vifited  patients  infected 
with  the  frnall  pox,  "  ufed  the  common  precaution  of 
*  covering  his  clothes  with  a  loofe  gown,  &c.  but  neg- 
"  lefted  his  wig.  In  confequence  of  this  frnall  neglect, 
"  after  riding  fix  miles  on  horfeback,  he  gave  the  difeafe 
"  to  a  perfon  in  a  room  through  which  he  patted,  where 
"  he  did  not  ftay  to  fit  down.'*  Another  is,  if  poflible, 
dill  more  remarkable :  "  David  Anthony,  efq.  one  of 

«  the 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER.  467 

**  the  overfeers  of  the  fmall  pox  in  Rhode  Mand,  after 
**  going  in*0  tne  hofpital,  and  ufing  the  common  pre- 
"  cautions,  neglected  tofmok-ekis  wig.  In  his  way  home, 
c<  two  miles  from  the  hofpital,  he  called  at  the  houfe  of 
"  his  daughter.  He  did  not  difmount,  but  fat  on  his 
"  horfe,  and  talked  to  her  through  an  open  window; 
*l  and,  at  the  common  period  (by  which  we  ufually  un- 
"  derftand  about  fourteen  days)  me  took  the  difeafe 
"  and  died.  Many  fuch  inftances,  adds  the  Doctor, 
"  could  I  relate,  where  wigs  have  given  the  infection, 
"  after  being  expofed  to  the  open  air  during  the  paflage 
"  of  feveral  miles." 

From  all  this  it  appears  how  difficult  a  talk  they 
undertake  who  contend  for  the  domeftic  origin  of  the 
yellow  fever,  without  contagion.  In  all  cafes  they  muft 
have  recourfe  to  fomething  vifible  and  obvious  to  the 
fenfes.  Thus  putrid  beef,  putrid  fifh,  ponds  of  water, 
marines,  &c.  are  all  eafily  feen,  and  we  are  able  to  prove 
their  abfence  as  well  as  their  prefence.  But  we  certainly 
know  that  the  yellow  fever  has  arifen  where  none  of 
thofe  fuppofed  caufes  have  exifted,  as  in  the  Bufbridge 
Indiaman ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  all  the  fuppofed 
caufes  have  exifted  without  the  production  of  any  fever. 
Of  this  laft  Dr.  Chifholm,  in  the  conclufion  of  his  de- 
fence againft  Dr.  Smith,  gives  the  following  remarkable 
inftance  ;*  "  During  a  confiderable  part  of  the  years 
"  1776  and  1778  my  duty  led  me  very  much  to  refide 
"  in  New  York;  and  during  my  refidence,  particularly 
*'  in  the  fumrner  and  autumn  of  1778,  which  were  re- 
<x  markably  hot,  and  infulferably  fo  in  the  lower  ftreets 
**  of  New  York,  no  difeafe  of  a  very  alarming  nature,  and 
"  none  which  aflumed  the  form  of  an  epidemic,  appeared 
*'  among  the  troops  or  inhabitants.  The  fmell  from  all 
"  the  (hips,  and  from  thofe  in  particular  delineated  by 
"  Dr.  Seaman  (who  has  written  a  treatife  on  the  fub- 
*'  ject)  was  in  the  higheft  degree  offenfive.  The  police 
**  at  that  time  was  by  no  means  ftrict :  putrid  fubftan- 
**  ces  of  every  defcription  were  accumulated  in  the  flips, 

"and 

Mcd.  Rep»f,  vol.  ii,  p,  231. 


A    TREATISE    ON 

"  and  in   many  parts  of  the  city   unconne&ed  with 
"  wharves,  and  yet  no  difeafe  was  the  confequence." 

Some  particulars  above  related  may  perhaps  appear, 
to  thofe  who  deny  the  exiftence  of  contagion,  in  rathef 
a  ludicrous  point  of  view.  It  is  indeed  too  common 
for  people  to  laugh  at  what  they  cannot  anfwer ;  but  if 
we  confider  the  inftantaneous  and  inexplicable  action  of 
the  poifon  of  ferpents,  and  in  how  little  time  they  pro- 
duce a  mortal  diforder,  or  even  death  itfelf ;  when  we 
confider  that  contagion  is  only  a  volatile  poifon,  and 
that  it  for  the  moft  part  takes  up  an  incomparably  lon- 
ger time  to  bring  on  death  than  the  bites  of  fome  veno- 
mous animals ;  we  cannot  be  furprifed  that  a  quantity 
of  this"  volatile  matter  inconceivably  lefs  than  that  of 
animal  poifon  fhould  be  capable  of  bringing  on  the  dif- 
order ;  for  the  length  of  time  may  be  fuppofed  to  make 
up  for  the  deficiency  of  quantity.  Yet,  if  we  confider 
the  extreme  activity  of  fome  animal  poifons,  the  wonder 
at  the  fmall  quantity  of  contagion  neceffary  to  produce 
a  deleterious  effect  will  in  a  great  meafure  ceafe.  In  the 
former  part  of  this  treatife  it  has  been  obferved,  from 
Dr.  Mead,  that  the  whole  quantity  of  poifon  emitted 
by  a  viper,  when  it  bites>  does  not  exceed  the  bulk  of  a 
good  drop.  An  ordinary  drop  from  a  vial  weighs  half  a 
grain,  fo  that  we  cannot  fuppofe  a  large  drop  to  be  more 
than  a  whole  grain.  But  there  are  inftances  in  which 
effects  equally  deleterious  are  occafioned  by  the  bites  of 
animals  the  whole  bulk  of  which  is  fcarcely  equivalent 
to  that  of  the  poifon  of  the  viper.  In  the  northern  cli- 
mates of  the  Old  World,  fpiders  do  not  grow  to  any  re- 
markable bulk,  yet  the  bite  of  the  poifonous  fpider  of 
Ruflia  is  as  mortal  as  that  of  the  rattlefnake.*  The 
effect  of  the  furia  infernalh  of  Linnaeus  is  dill  more  to 
our  purpofe.  It  is  an  infect  found  in  the  forefts  of  Ke- 
mi  in  Lapland,  and  likewife  in  Sweden  and  Ruffia  ;  and, 
if  we  can  give  credit  to  Mr.  Pennant,  in  fome  of  the  Weft- 
em  Iflands  of  Scotland.  This  infect  falls  down  out  of  the 
air,  and,  if  it  happens  to  light  upon  any  uncovered  part 
of  the  human  body,  it  almoft  inftantly  penetrates  down 

to 

*  See  Medical  Annals,  vol.  Hi,  p.  4*9. 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER. 

to  the  bone,  occafioning  the  moft  excruciating  pain,  and 
death  in  a  quarter  of  an  hour  ^  Now,  fhould  we  fup- 
pofe  the  whole  body  of  this  infect  to  be  poifon,  as  it  is 
probable  that  it  is  not,  it  is  fo  minute,  that  though  the 
whole  were  volatilized  into  contagion,  it  might  be  well 
fuppofed  to  adhere  to  a  wig*  or  even  a  more  diminutive 
part  of  the  clothing;  and,  conlidefing  the  virulent  ef- 
fecls  of  even  this  fmall  quantity  of  contagion  when  con- 
centrated, it  would  eafily  follow  by  fair  calculation,  that 
a  very  minute  proportion  of  even  this/wtf//  quantity  might 
bring  on  a  dangerous  difeafe. 

Laftly,  it  may  be  urged  on  the  fide  of  contagion  that, 
when  a  velfel  arrives  from  a  fickly  country,  it  is  no  proof 
that  (he  has  not  brought  a  difeafe  with  her,  that  the  peo- 
ple aboard  are  in  health.  There  is  abundance  of  evi- 

clpnce 

*  The  following  account  of  the  poifonous  infers  of  Raffia,  extracted  from 
£)r.  Guthrie's  letter  to  Dr.  Duncan  (Med.  Annals,  vol,  iii,  p.  396)  may  be  not 
unacceptable  to  the  reader  :  «•  I  have  lately  feen  (fays  Dr  Guthrie)  a  woma* 
*l  with  her  hand  and  arm  in  a  moft  violent  ftate  of  irritation,  from  the  lodge- 
*'  ment  of  the  lumbricus  melitenfis,  a  worm  not  much  thicker  than  a  horfe- 
*'  hair,  which  had  entered  her  thumb  whilft  at  work  in  a  marfhy  fpot,  and 
i*  was,  when  I  faw  her,  a  day  after  the  accident,  on  its  way  up  the  arm,  with 
*4  excruciating  pain.  I  muft  own  that  I  ihoald  not  have  known  the  nature 
11  of  the  difeafe,  if  a  fellow-peafant  had  not  immediately  declared  that 
«'  it  was  produced  by  trre  dangerous  worm  ;  which  many  of  thefe  people  aro 
**  acquainted  with  to  their  colt,  as  an  inhabitant  of  the  ftagnant  pools  and 
«'  marfties  in  that  diftrid,  about  fixty  verfts  to  the  fouthweft  of  Peterfburgh. 
«'  I  muft  farther  acknowledge,  that  I  was  happy  to  hear  the  patient  was  to> 
«*  be  irrftantly  tranfported  to  another  village,  where  a  famous  operator  lived* 
*'  well  fkilled  in  the  art  of  extracting  the  venomous  infed  ;  as  I  fhould  cer- 
«'  tainly  have  gone  very  awkwardly  to  work  if  1  had  been  obliged  to  operates 
**  though  the  iimple  peafaftts  perform  it  with  fuccefs  and  fafety,  gradually 
•*  winding  the  worm  round  a  quill,  till  the  whole  animal  be  extracted  ;  a  work 
«'  of  much  patience  and  perfever&nce.  I  was  very  forry  that  duty  obliged  me 
44  to  be  in  town  the  fame  evening,  a  drive  of  lixty  verfts.  It  was  therefore 
•*  impoflible  for  me  to  accompany  the  patient,  though  I  was  very  defuous  of 
*'  witnefiing  this  village-operation. 

•«  But  Ruflia  is.  peftered  with  a  ftill  more  dangerous  worm  ;  the  furia  infer- 
*•  nalis.  It  is  ftill  fmaller  than  the  former,  not  being  thicker  than  a  human 
«'  hair.  This  infernal  infedt,  from  its  extreme  lightnefc,  is  often  carried  up 
•«  into  the  air,  with  the  duft,  by  whirlwinds;  and,  if  it  unfortunately  falls  on 
«'  thfc  uncovered  part  of  a  man  or  beaft,  it  enters  the  flefh  in  an  inftant,  and 
M  foon  proves  mortal,  if  a  remedy  be  not  quickly  applied. 

"  Our  new  vice-governor  of  Peterfburg  lately  came  down  from  Siberia? 
c«  where  he  was  commandant  of  a  fort.  He  tells  me,  that  in  the  diftri£l  of 
«l  Nerchinfk,  where  he  commanded,  the  peafants,  as  well  as  their  cattle,  ar* 
•««  often  deftroyerl  by  an  infedt  falling  upon  them.  To  prevent  this  accident 
"  from  proving  fatal,  the  part  is  inftanly  fcarified,  and  rubbed  with  a  mix> 
«J  ture  ot  fnuif  and  fal  ammoniac. 

««  This  I  am  convinced  muft  be  the  furia  infernalis ;  more  efpecially  as  he 
««  aflured  me,  that  the  infeft  was  fo  very  minute,  that  none  of  the  peafants 
4*  had  ever  feen  it  >vhen  it  fell  upon  thcnij  and  that  they  had  no  idea  of  its 


A    TREATISE    ON 

dence  that  very  dangerous  maladies  may  be  communica^ 
ted  by  thofe  who  do  not  labour  under  the  fame.  The 
prifoners  at  the  Oxford  aflizes  were  not  fick  at  the  time 
they  communicated  a  dreadful  diftemper  to  thofe  around 
them.  Dr.  Brattle  and  Mr.  Anthony  were  in  perfect 
health  when  they  communicated  the  contagion  of  the 
fmall  pox,  yet  the  effect  was  not  lefs  fatal.  In  fhort> 
contagion  being  a  power  certainly  known  to  exift,  though 
invifible  and  imperceptible,  it  is  impoffible  ever  to  prove 
that  it  is  abfent  j  neither  after  the  contagion  of  any 
difeafe  has  once  got  into  a  country  can  we  beaffured  that 
it  may  not  revive.  The  experience,  we  may  fay,  of  the 
whole  world  teflifies  that  it  does  adhere  particularly  to 
clothing.  Dr.  Land  thinks  it  may  adhere  to  the  timbers 

of 


»«  nature  and  form.  But  one  eireumftaace  of  his,  recite*?,  alxaoft 
"•  my  belief  ;  that  the  carcafe  of  an  animal  killed  by  this  in  led  is  aim  oft  a*  dan- 
"  gerous  as  the  infedl  itlelf  .  This  phenomenon  I  cannot  account  for  in  any 
f«  other  way  but  by  fuppoSng,  as  the  accident  always  happens  in  the  hot  monthf 
**  of  the  yearr  that  a  high  degree  of  putridity  is  produced  by  the  venomou* 
w  worm,  when  the  cafe  proves  fatal. 

««  I  informed  the  vice-governor  of  the  manner  in  which  the  Dalecar}ian  pea- 
«;«  fants  in  Sweden  treat  the  accident,  in  order  that  he  might  cosjrsuakate  their 
**  mode  of  cure  to  his  Siberian  acquaintance!  which  is  merely  applying  to  the 
*«  part  affected  a  piece  of  fweet  card.  The  infed  poffibiy  prefers  this  to  flefa, 
i«  and  leaves  th«  one  for  the  other.  I  asn»  however,  much  afraid  that  this  fim- 
'«  pie  remedy  will  feklom  be  at  hand  in  Raffia,  as  the  peafauts  areunac^uaiaW 
61  ed  with  the  ui'e  of  rennet*  but  prepare  a  four  curd  by  means  of  heat,  through* 
t«  out  the  whole  empire  ;  evidently  taking  its  origin  in  the  Tartar  Koumis» 
Q<  and  (hewing  them  te  be  a  people  »f  Scythian  extra&ioa.  They  like  wife: 
*«  ieparate  butter  from  milk  by  heat,  inftead  of  the  churn  ;  a  curioas  circum-» 
w  ftance,  prob^bJy  unknown  to  you  before. 

»'  Thefe  two  dangerous  infects  are,  however,  not  all  which  threaten  th$ 
»<  life  of  man  in  this  empire  :  the  foutheyn  provinces  are  infefted  with  a  thirds 
<«  the  bite  of  which  is  as  mortal  as  that  of  tke  deadly  rattlefnake,  if  the  parj 
<*-be  not  inftantly  tcarifted,  and  rubbed  with  frefti  butter.  This  >s  a  fpecies 
«•«  of  era-b-fpider,  4he  phalangium  acaroides,  refembiing  the  tarantula,  but  ra- 
«i  ther  thinner  and  (mailer.  5t  however  kills  and  devours  that  forinidabla 
««.fpider  in  a  few  minutes,  which,  wfeea  compared  whh  ii»  is  an  innocenj 
t«  animal. 

««  Your  acquaintaace,  Mrs.  Guthrie,  lateJy  seturntd  from  a  toar  on  accottnX 
a«  of  health,  along  the  north  ihore  of  the  Black  Sea.  Am»»g  much  important 
c«  and  curious  information,  (lie  gave  me  fome  account  of  the  care  employed 
««  for  the  bite  of  this  mortal  fpider,  which  finds  maa?  lurking-places  among 
««  the  r»med  buildings  of  th«  anaient  Cheilbnef  us  Taurica,  »r  Crimea,  laid* 
*«  waftc  ia  tlw  laft  Tuifc»(h  war.  It  is  a  curiows  fa£i,  that  anit»al  oil  coun- 
•-<  teracls  the  venom  of  the  fpider  tribes,  as  vegetable  oils  do  the  venom 
*«  of  ferpents.  1  fufpedt,  however,  that  either  of  them  would  counteract  both 
**  poifons  ;  indeed,  I  think  we  have  a  proof  of  animal  oil  a&ing  woaderfulljr 
«•  on  ferpents,  in  the  anecdote  related  by  Bruce,  when  the  deadly  ceraftes,  of 
j*  viper  of  the  Nile,  turned  away  its  head  from  the  oiiy  breaft  of  She  prime 
<*«  mmifter  of  Fenaar,  when  he  csielefsty  teok  it  up  in  his  hand,  and  applies* 
»«  it  to  his  naked  bofom,  to  Ihew  Mr.  Bruce  how  innocent  it  was  ta  men  of  his 
\*  eok>ur>  v;kofe  very  Q,in  tkkencd  tfee  an«s>al> 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER.  471 

of  iliips  ;  and  there  is  the  greateft  reafon  to  believe  that 
it  may  alfo  adhere  to  the  walls  of  apartments  in  houfes. 
The  appearance  of  fever  therefore  without  any  new  im- 
portation cannot  prove  that  it  has  not  arifen  from  con- 
tagion. But  it  is  now  time  to  date  the  evidence  on  the 
oppofite  fide. 

In  Webfter's  Collection  we  find  the  domeftic  origin 
of  yellow  fever  fupported  by  Drs.  Valentine  Seaman, 
and  E.  H.  Smith  of  New  York ;  and  by  Drs.  Taylor 
and  Hansford,  and  Dr.  Ramfay  of  Norfolk.  Dr.  W. 
Buel  of  Sheffield  has  alfo  given  an  account  of  a  fever., 
but  fo  unlike  that  of  which  we  treat,  that  what  is  faid 
of  the  one  cannot  be  applicable  to  the  other. 

The  arguments  ufed  by  Dr.  Seaman  are,  i.  Several 
perfons  were  infected,  who  had  taken  the  utm oft  care  to 
avoid  all  communication  with  the  fick,  who  had  not 
been  for  feveral  weeks  out  of  their  houfes,  or  within 
eighty  feet  of  an  infected  perfon.  ^.  The  nurfes  and  at- 
tendants in  fome  places  were  infected,  but  in  others  ge- 
nerally efcaped.  Neither  did  the  difeafe  fpread  into  the 
country,  as  was  reported  ;  the  Doctor  having  inquired 
into  thefe  reports,  and  found  them  groundlefs.  3.  Dr. 
Lining  fays  in  his  letter  to  Dr.  Whytt,*  "  If  any  perfon 
from  the  country  received  it  in  town,  and  fickened  on 
his  return  home,  the  infection  fpread  no  further,  not 
even  to  one  in  the  fame  houfe."-}- 

Several  other  arguments  of  the  fame  negative  kind  are 
adduced,  which,  being  not  eflentially  different  from  thofe 
already  quoted,  it  is  needlefs  to  detail.  The  following 
are  rather  of  a  different  nature :  4.  Some  contagions 
are  propagated  by  contact  only,  others  at  a  diftance ;  but 
at  any  rate  we  may  fuppofe  that  contact  will  propagate 
contagion  more  readily  and  more  powerfully  than  any 
other  mode  that  can  be  imagined.  Yet  multitudes  of 
difiections  have  been  made,  and  thofe  who  made 
them  are  ftill  alive.  5.  "  Specific  and  ackowledged  con- 
"  tagions  all  feem  to  arife  from  themfelves  only  :  hence 

4S  it 

*  Seep.  387. 

t  The  fame  phyfician,  in  the  very  letter  quoted  by  Dr.  Seaman,  fays  that 
all  the  times  this  fever  had  appeared  in  Carolina,  the  origin  of  it  was  evi- 
dently traced  to  fome  reflel  arrived  from  the  Weft  Indies, 


A    TREATISE   Otf 

96  it  would  be  almoft  as  hard  for  me  to  believe  that  tns 
*'  fiphylis,  fnaall  pox,  or  meafies,  could  be  produced 
"  from  any  other  caufe  than  their  own  proper  virus,  ob- 
*fc  tained  from  perfons  affected  with  the  like  difeafe,  as 
"  it  would  be  for  me  to  conceive  of  the  formation  of  a 
*'  plant  without  its  having  received  its  feed,  or  radical^ 
"  from  one  of  the  fame  nature.*  Contagions  feem  to 
*c  fix  in  the  foil  of  our  bodies,  and  there  feed,  as  natu- 
"  rally  and  regularly  as  vegetables  do  on  the  earth.  But 
"  the  yellow  fever  has  been  produced  from  other  caitjes 
"  than  -contagion.^  Does  it  not  then  admit  of  a  doubt, 
"  whether  it  can  pojjefs  a  power  of  propagating  itfelf  ?" 
7.  Contagions  refpedt  no  perfons,  but  all  of  every  clime 
and  colour  are  equally  attacked  with  them  ;  but  the 
yellow  fever  is  known  to  attack  fome  much  more  readily 
than  others.  8.  Contagious  difeafes  generally  have  a  deter- 
mined time  of  invafion  after  an  expofure  to  their  caufe  : 
but  the  advocates  for  contagion  in  the  yellow  fever  can- 
not be  confined  in  this  manner.  "  Their  doctrine  re- 
44  quires  that  it  (the  contagion  of  yellow  fever)  be  per* 
"  m  it  ted  to  act  at  any  time  between  that  of  the  expofure 
"  and  the  fixteenth  day ;  otherwife  it  would  not  em* 
'*  brace  cafes  enough  to  give  it  a  currency." £  9.  "  Con- 
tagions 

*  Arguments  of  this  kind  involve  us  in  an  endlcfs  difpute  fimilar  to  thsft 
relative  to  the  equivocal  generation  of  plants  and  animals  ;  that  is,  the 
production  of  plants  without  a  feed,  and  animals  without  parents.  As  fome 
difeafes  are  confetted  to  arife  from  fome  kind  of  feed,  we  are  puzzled  to  ac- 
count for  the  origin  of  the  firjt  difeafe  of  that  kind.  Neverthelefs,  as  their 
difeafes  do  exift,  the  difficulty  anting  from  a  confederation  of  their  origin  Is 
overlooked.  In  the  yellow  fever,  which  is  not  ©t  fo  long  (landing,  the  orig'm 
is  more  dilated.  #ut  it  is  iikewife  undeniable,  that  fome  contagious  diftem- 
pers  (the  itch  particularly)  though  capable  of  being  propagated  by  contagion, 
may  yet  arife  from  want  of  cleanlinefs,  and  living  on  particular  kinds  of  food. 
May  not  this  alfo  be  the  caie  with  the  yellow  fever  ?  And  is  it  not  the  iafe 
and  rational  way  to  acl  as  though  it  might  not  only  be  produced  at  home,  but 
iinported  from  abroad  ? 

t  This  is  the  very  point  in  queftion  ;  but  our  author,  inftcad  of  enumerat- 
ing the  fads  by  which  his  petition  may  be  fupported,  relers  to  Dr.  Lind,  whofe 
evidence  (hall  be  afterwards  confidered. 

J  No  greater  latitude,  or  very  little  more,  is  required  by  the  advocates  for 
the  t.ontagious  nature  of  the  yellow  fever  than  Dr.  Seaman  muft  allow  in  a 
diftemper  which  he  himfelf  owns  to  be  contagious.  It  is  well  known,  on  the 
caftern  continent  at  leaft,  that  a  gonorrhoea  will  come  on  at  any  time  between 
the  firft  and  fifteenth  day  after  the  infection  is  received.  Dr.  Guthrie  fup- 
poles  the  time  intervening  between  the  reception  of  peftilential  contagion. and 
the  appearance  of  the  fymptoms  to  be  four  days;  and  I>r.  Chiftiolm  thinks 
that  in  the  Boullam  fever  it  is  fomewhat  flbort  of  two  days  :  but  it  is  plain 
that  much  muft  depend  on  the  quantity  of  couta^ioni  and  t&e  predifpofitws. 
of  the  body  to  receive  it. 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER,  473 

"  tagiohs  act  more  or  lefs  at  all  places  and  feafons,  fim- 
"  ply  of  themfelves,  without  the  aid  of  any  particular 
cc  circumftance  of  air  or  climate  ;  but  the  fupporters  of 
"  the  yellow  fever  being  contagious  are  obliged,  by  the 
''force  of  the  foregoing  obfervati'ons,  to  acknowledge  their 
"  imaginary  fondling  to  be  but  a  half -formed  monjler^  and 
u  perfectly  inactive  without  being  aflifted  by  the  con- 
"  currence  of  a  predifpofing  conftitution  of  the  air. 
"  (Rufh  on  yellow  fever.)  This,  fever  exifts  only  in 
"  warm  weather :  hence  its  caufe  in  this  city  (New 
"  York)  was  perfectly  extinguished  by  the  frofty  nights 
cc  in  the  loth  month.  It  is  confined  moftly  to  low  fitua- 
"  tions  in  thick-fettled  places ;  otherwife  our  almshoufe 
"  and  the  furrounding  country  would  have  fadly  experi- 
" -cuced  its  deleterious  effects." 

This  argument  merits  a  particular  confederation,  as 
involving  a  queftion  of  very  great  importance,  namely^ 
concerning  the  conftitution  of  the  atmofphere^  which 
we  have  had  occafion  formerly  to  fpeak  of,  and  which  is 
by  fome  thought  to  be  fufficient  of  itfelf  to  produce  epi- 
demics, without  the  intervention  of  any  other  caufe. 
This  conftitution  of  the  atmofphere  is,  it  is  true^  fome- 
thing  unknown ;  and,  when  people  appeal  to  it,  it  is  only 
in  other  words  owning  their  ignorance  ;  but  the  neceffity 
of  recurring  to  fome  caufe  imperceptible  by  our  fenfes 
has  in  all  ages  been  obvious.  So  much  indeed  has  been 
faid  in  this  treatife  on  the  caufes  of  plague  (which  may 
apply  alfo  to  yellow  fever)*  that  more  would  be  fuper- 
fluous,  even  if  our  limits  would  admit  of  it.  The  di- 
lemma (and  it  is  equally  infoluble  let  iis  fay  what  we 
will)  ftands  thus  :  If  the  yellow  fever  is  produced  by  the 
effluvia  of  marfhes,  by  putrid  fteams,  or  by  any  thing 
elfe,  how  comes  it  to  pafs  that  it  has  been  fo  frequent  in 
the  United  States  fince  the  year  1792  in  comparifon  of 
what  it  was  for  30  years  before  ?  Have  the  American, 
cities  all  at  once  become  finks  of  filth  and  naftinefs  ? 
Have  the  feafons  been  changed,  or  have  the  inhabitants 
given  themfelves  up  at  once  to  fwinifh  intemperance, and 

gluttony, 

*  See  p.  1 66,  &  feq. 

PPP 


474  A    TREATISE    ON 

gluttony,  devouring,  like  favages,  their  meat  half-rotten, 
half-roafted  or  half-boiled  ?  From  fome  declamatory 
publications  indeed  one  might  be  apt  to  think  that  the 
authors  certainly  meant  to  bring  fuch  accufations  againft 
them.  But  it  undoubtedly  will  be  found  an  hard  mat- 
ter to  prove  that  the  general  cleanlinefs  of  the  country 
is  inferior  to  what  it  was,  or  that  the  people  are  lefs  vir- 
tuous than  they  were  before.  Befides,  has  not  the  vigi- 
lance of  the  magiftrate,  ever  fince  1793,  been  exerted  to 
the  utmoft  to  procure  a  removal  of  thofe  nuifances  from 
which  the  difeafe  might  be  fuppofed  to  arife  ?  Yet  their 
effotfs  have  not  availed ;  for  it  is  confeffed  that  the  at- 
tack in  1798  was  the  moft  fevere  ever  experienced. 
Jf  cold  could  have  exterminated  the  difeafe,  certainly 
the  three  laft  winters  have  been  abundantly  fufficient  to 
do  fo ;  yet  it  is  certain  that  cafes  of  the  fever  did  appear 
in  the  end  of  December  laft,  when  the  cold  muft  cer- 
tainly have  been  deemed  fufficrently  intenfe  to  put  a 
ftop  co  putrefaction  of  every  kind.  No  wonder  then 
that  people,  unable  to  fee  the  caufes  of  thefe  things, 
fliould  have  recourfe  to  fomething  invifible,  which  they 
called  the  conftitntion  of  the  aimofpJiere.  On  this  fubjec"* 
Dr.  Haygarth  of  Chefter  makes  the  following  objections 
to  the  commonly  "received  opinions  concerning  epidemic 
cenftituiions  of  the  atmofphere  :* 

"  i.  Dr.  Odier  of  Geneva,  in  a  letter  to  Dr.  Hay* 
"  garth.,  writes  thus :  c  I  believe  it  would  not  be  difficult 
46  to  prove  that  the  (late  of  the  atmofphere  is  in  no  re- 
"  (peel;  the  caufe  (of  the  regular  epidemics  of  that  city;) 
"  for  the  villages  and  towns  which  furround  it  do  not 
*'  experience  the  fame  epidemic  all  years  as  Geneva,  al- 
"  though  they  are  (ituated  under  the  fame  heavens,  and 
ie  expoted  to  the  fame  viciffitudes  of  atmofphere.'  2.  Sy- 
*'  denham  conjectures  that  fome  effluvia,  iiTuing  from 
"  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  produce  epidemics.  Were 
*'  this  true,  it  might  advance  one  ftep  towards  a  folution 
"  of  the  difficulty  by  difcovering  a  local  difference  in  the 
"  atmofphere.  But  it  has  never  yet  been  pretended  that 
•*  any  fuch  vapour  was  perceived.  Yet  every  part  of 

"  the 
*  Sketch  of  a  Plan  to  exterminate  Cafual  Small  Pox. 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER.  475 

4*  the  earth  muft  be  capable  of  furni (hing  it ;  as  no  por- 
"  tionofthe  whole  habitable  globe  has  been  difcovered 
"  where  the  air  could  not  propagate  the  frnall  pox.  .  .  . 
*'  3.  Hence  we  may  fafely  conclude,  that  the  flight  varia- 
"  tions  of  the  fame  climate,  and  the  fame  feafun,  muft 
"  be  altogether  infignificant  and  nugatory.  What  im- 
44  portant  difference  of  atmofphere  can  be  fuppofed  to 
"  exift  for  weeks  or  months  together  in  two  neighbour- 
"  ing  villages,  or  in  the  adjacent  ftreets  of  the  fame 
ec  town  ?  This  remark  is  plainly  applicable  to  the  pro- 
"  pagation  of  the  plague  and  other  infectious  diftempers. 
<c  Yet  the  lateft  and  moft  refpe&able  authors  continue 
"  to  be  mifled  by  this  groundlefs  hypothecs." 

Obje&ions  of  this  kind  do  not  folve  the  difficulty. 
The  exceffive  difparity  of  feafons  with  refpect  to  the 
fpreading  of  epidemic  difeafes,  the  long  cefTation  of  them 
at  fome  times,  and  their  fudden  revival,  as  if  with  re- 
doubled fury,  at  others,  indicate  the  operation  of  fome 
caufe  invifible  to  us ;  but  whether  that  caufe  refides  in 
the  earth  or  in  the  air,  cannot  eafily  be  known.  As 
contagious  matter  feems  to  operate  by  being  received 
with  the  air  into  the  lungs,  it  would  feem  rather  probable 
that  the  ultimate  caufe  of  epidemics  refides  alfo  in  the 
air.  Dr.  Haygarth  complains  that  the  vapour  arifing 
from  the  earth,  fuppofed  to  produce  epidemics,  mould 
be  invifible  -,  but  the  contagion  of  the  fmall  pox,  or  of 
any  other  infectious  diforder,  is  equally  fo.  It  muft,  he 
fays,  be  difFufed  all  over  the  earth.  The  electric  fluid  is 
fo;  it  ifTues  from  the  earth  in  every  part  of  its  furface, 
as  is  demonftrated  by  the  common  experiments  of  elec- 
tric machines ;  and  there  are  the  ftrongeft  reafons  to  be- 
lieve that  it  ifTues  at  fome  times  and  in  fome  places  in 
much  greater  abundance  than  others.  But  enough  has 
been  faid  on  this  fubjed  ;  we  muft  now  confider  mat- 
ters a  little  more  obvious. 

Though  it  is  not  eafily  feen  in  what  manner  the  pro- 
portion of  the  ingredients  which  compofe  the  atmofphere 
can  be  changed,  and  we  are  unable  to  difcover  the  ope- 
ration of  the  more  fubtile  fluid  contained  in  it,  yet  we 
are  certain  that  its  conftitution  muft  be  different  in  dif- 
ferent 


476  A    TREATISE    ON 

ferent  parts  of  the  world.  Iflands,  from  their  being 
furrounded  on  all  fides  by  the  fea,  muft  of  confequence 
have  an  atmofphere  considerably  different  from  that  of 
the  internal  parts  of  continents,  where  the  air  always 
pafles  over  large  tracts  of  land.  Hence  the  continent  of 
America,  being  fituated  between  the  two  vaft  oceans 
called  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific,  muft  poflefs  a  conftitu- 
tion  of  atmofphere  considerably  different  from  that  of 
the  Eaftern.  Of  confequence,  the  difeafes  of  Europe 
and  Afia,  when  tranfplanted  to  America,  or  to  the 
American  iflands,  will  probably,  fooner  or  later,  afiume 
a  type  different  from  that  which  they  had  in  their  own 
country.  Dr.  Waterhoufe  has  taken  notice  of  this  in 
his  letter  to  Dr,  Haygarth,  and  thinks  that  it  may  hold 
good  even  in  the  fmall  pox.  "  May  not  the  fmall  pox 
"  (fays  he)  operate  differently  in  the  two  countries?  It 
"  has  certainly  had  a  different  appearance,  and  required  a 
"  fomewhat  different  treatment,  almoft  every  time  it  has 
"  come  among  us.  That  the  difference  in  thevirulency 
"  of  the  fmall  pox,  obferved  at  different  periods,  when 
"  epidemic  here,  may  be  attributed  to  a  peculiar  con- 
"  ftitution  of  the  atmofphere,  no  one  feems  to  doubt ; 
"  and  why  may  not  the  difference,  fo  reafonably  to  be 
"  expected  between  the  atmofphere  of  your  ifland  and 
"  this  continent,  allow  us  to  fuppofe  that  there  is  fome 
c-  difference  in  the  facility  of  receiving  the  infection  ?** 
This  is  alfo  an  important  confideration,  and  may  throw 
fome  light  on  the  caufe,  as  well  as  the  mode  of  preven- 
tion, of  this  difeafe. 

Laftly,  Dr.  Seaman  attempts  to  difprove  the  authen- 
ticity of  fome  cafes  which  have  been  brought  as  pofitive 
proofs  of  the  difeafe  having  been  received  by  infection. 
Thefe  belong  not  to  us  to  confider  ;  it  being  impofiible, 
by  reafon  of  the  invihble  nature  of  contagion,  to  deter- 
mine from  a  fimple  confederation  of  any  patient's  cafe 
whether  it  was  infectious  or  not.  Dr.  Fordyce  has  laid 
clown  the  proper  rule  for  judging  in  fuch  cafes.*  One 
only  of  the  inftances  brought  by  Dr.  Seaman  therefore 
vye  ihall  mention,  and  that,  not  becaufe  it  proves  any 

thing, 

*  See  p.  i  €9. 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER.  477 

fhing,  but  on  account  of  its  fingularity.  "  Daniel  Phoe- 
#  nix,  city-treafurer  of  New  York,  is  fuppofed  without 
"  doubt  to  have  taken  his  complaints  from  contagion: 
"  the  corporation,  fome  time  paft,  having  iffued  into  cir- 
**  culation,  for  the  accommodation  of  the  inhabitants, 
"  a  great  number  of  paper  penny  bills,  it  has  been  con- 
"  eluded  that  he  muft  have  received  contagion  through 
fc'f  the  medium  of  fome  bundles  of  thefe  bills,  which  he 
"  opened,  that  had  been  nearly  worn  out,  to  be  exchang* 
*'  ed,  and  which  he  opened  and  examined  to  afcertain 
"  their  amount  fome  days  after  he  had  received  them.'* 
The  Dodor  allows  that  he  might  have  been  infected  by 
the  bills,  but  afcribes  it  to  putrid  effluvia.'* 

Dr.  Smith,  in  his  letters  to  Dr.  Buel,  infills  much  on 
the  vitiated  ftate  of  the  atmofphere,  and  is  at  fome  pains 
to  defcribe  the  perfons  who  were  moft  fubjedt  to  it. 
Thefe,  in  1795,  were  for  the  moft  part  foreigners  ;  un- 
der which  denomination  the  Doftor  comprehends  thofe 
who  came  from  other  ftates,  from  the  Weft  Indies,  and 
from  Europe,  or  who  had  not  been  many  months  or 
years  fettled  in  the  city.  The  number  of  citizens  who 
fullered  he  does  not  fuppofe  to  have  exceeded  one  in 
feven  ;  but  he  remarks,  that,  both  among  foreigners  and 
citizens,  the  feverity  of  the  difeafe  fell  chiefly  on  the 
poor.  This  mixture  of  different  nations  he  accounts, 
and  with  great  probability,  one  of  the  caufes  of  the  dif- 

temper, 

*  Dr.  Seaman»  having  at  laft,  as  he  thinks,  completely  overthrown  his  ad- 
yerfaries,  and  ranked  himfelf  with  the  more  conjiderate  and  reafonable  part  of 
the  community,  likens  thofe  who  differ  from  him  to  fuch  as  beljeve.in  ihcfoiuer 
'ef  imagination  to  mark  the  child  in  the  womb  ;  and  which  he  is  of  opinion  that 
the  women  of  America  would  not  disbelieve,  though  all  the  phyficians  on  the 
continent  weae  to  unite  in  perfuading  them  to  the  contrary.  On  this  fubjedfc 
the  writer  of  this  treatife  is  happy  at  having  it  in  his  power  to  declare  himfelf 
pf  the  fame  opinion  with  the  ladies,  and  to  offer,  in  fupport  of  their  opinion 
?nd  his,  the  following  fa<5l.  A  pregnant  woman,  having  been  employed  in 
dyeing  fome  cotton  yarn,  and  rinfed  it,  after  it  had  got  the  colour,  in  cold 
water,  threw  it,  while  wet  and  cold,  about  her  neck.  It  touched  the  (kin  on 
the  back  part  of  the  neck,  and  part  of  her  arm.  The  woman  ftarted,  fhivered, 
and  inftantly  faid  that  her  child  would  be  marked.  It  happened  exa<£Uy  ac- 
cording to  her  predidtion.  The  back  part  of  the  neck,  and  correfponding 
part  of  the  arm  to  that  which  the  cotton  touched,  being  covered  with  purple 
fpots  in  the  child,  exaclly  fimilar  to  what  might  have  been  made  by  drops  of 
the  purple  liquid  in  which  the  yarn  was  dyed  falling  upon  theflcin.  Of  this 
fadt  I  am  as  certain  as  of  my  own  exiftence;  having  been  prefent  when  the 
cotton  was  dyed,  having  heard  the  lyoman  call  out  as  above  relatedi  and  feei* 
tlo  child  after  it  was  bornt  and  particularly  infpec^ed  the  marks. 


A    TREATISE   ON 

temper.  In  confirmation  of  it  he  quotes  Dr.  Blane,  on 
the  difeafes  of  feamen,  remarking,  "  that  it  fometimes 
"  happens  that  a  fhip,  with  a  long-eftabhftied  crew,  fhall 
"  be  very  healthy ;  yet  if  Grangers  are  introduced  among 
"  them,  who  are  alfo  healthy,  ficknefs  will  be  mutually 
"  produced. "  The  fame  obfervation  is  made  by  Dn 
Rufh,  who,  befides  a  general  reference  to  the  hiflory  of 
difeafes,  adds  the  following  remarkable  fad  :  "  While 
(i  the  American  army  at  Cambridge,  in  the  year  1775, 
"  confided  only  of  New  England-men,  whofe  habits 
"  and  manners  were  the  fame,  there  was  fcarcely  any 
66  ficknefs  among  them.  It  was  not  till  the  troops  of  the 
*c  eaftern,  fouthern  and  middle  ftates  met  at  New  York 
"  and  Ticonderoga,  in  the  year  1776,  that  the  typhus 
"  became  univerfal,  and  fpread  with  fuch  peculiar  mor- 
ce  taltty  in  the  armies  of  the  United  States." 

This  confirms  the  obfervation  made  in  the  former 
part  of  this  treatife,  when  fpeaking  of  the  Englifh  em- 
baffy  to  China.  It  may  likewife  with  probability  be 
afligned  as  one  reafon  why  large  manufactories  are  gene- 
rally fo  unhealthy.  In  them  there  always  is  a  collection 
of  people  from  many  different  and  diftant  parts ;  and 
what  holds  good  on  a  large  fcale  mud  alfo  do  fo  on  a 
fmaller  one.  But  this  does  not  difprove  the  dodtrine 
of  contagion,  but  rather  confirms  it ;  for,  if  the  difcor- 
dant  effluvia  rifing  from  healthy  bodies  of  different  con- 
jkitutiom  can  generate  a  difeafe,  much  more  may  we  fup- 
pofe  the  effluvia  from  fick  perfons  capable  of  continuing 
and  propagating  it. 

Now,  let  us  confider  the  account,  imperfedt  as  it  isa 
which  we  have  been  able  to  colledt  concerning  the  ap- 
pearance of  the  yellow  fever  on  the  Weftern  Continent, 
We  have  feen  (p.  377,  n.)  that,  at  the  time  the  plague 
was  in  England,  five  of  the  Americans  were  tranfported 
to  that  country  ,  two  of  whom,,  after  flaying  fome  time 
in  England,  were  fent  back,  with  other  Grangers,  to 
America.  This  firft  colony  having  failed,  another  was 
fent ;  the  Indians  went  to  war  among  themfelves,  and 
the  yellow  fever  is  fuppofed  to  have  made  its  appear- 
ance. Here  a  fufpicion  naturally  arifes,  that  a  ilight 

peftilentia! 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER.  479 

peftikntial  taint  had  been  imported  by  fome  of  thefe 
ftrane^ers,  and  that  what  would  have  been  the  true 
-plague  in  Europe  or  Ada,  by  reafon  of  the  peculiar  con- 
flitution  of  the  atmofphere  in  the  New  World,  there  be- 
came the  yellow  fever.  The  fame  may  be  faid  of  the 
original  importation  of  it  into  Martinico.  Sauvages 
exprefsiy  fays  it  was  the  plague  which  was  imported. 
Mofeley  and  others  deny  that  any  fuch  difeafe  as  the 
yellow  fever  exifts  in  Siam  ;  and  indeed  it  feerns  at 
any  rate  to  be  a  new  difeafe.  It  feems  poffible  that 
difeafes  may  change  their  nature  ;  and  Dr.  Ferriar  has 
given  a  diflertation  on  the  converiion  of  difeafes.  As 
therefore  the  true  plague  never  made  its  appearance  in 
America  or  the  Weft  Indies,  it  feems  not  unreafonable 
to  fuppofe  that  thefe  countries  are  incapable  of  receiving 
it,  but  that  the  peftilential  poifon,  when  tranfported  to 
the  Weftern  Continent,  may  aflume  a  different,  and  in 
many  refpecls  an  oppofite,  nature  ;  the  two  difeafes  be- 
ing thus  like  the  oppofite  poles  of  a  magnet,  fcarce  agree- 
ing in  any  thing  but  the  common  work  of  deftrudtion. 

It  is  needlefs  to  fpend  time  in  attempting  to  invefti- 
gate  the  caufe  of  this  difeaie  appearing  at  different  peri- 
ods.    That  of  1793  has  been  the  mod  remarkable  and 
the  moft  deftrudlive  ;  the  difeafe  having  never  fince  that 
time  ceafed  its  ravages.     Previous  to  its  appearance  at 
Philadelphia  that  year,  Dr.  Rufh  obferves,   that,  "  du- 
"  ring  the  latter  part  of  July,  and  the  beginning  of  Au-> 
"  guff,  a  number  of  Aediftreffed  inhabitants  of  St.  Do- 
"  rningo,  who  had  efcaped  the  deftruction  of  fire  and 
"  fword,  arrived  in  the  city.     Soon  after  their  arrival  the 
"  influenza   made  its  appearance,    and  fpread   rapidly 
"  among  the  citizens."     The  yellow  fever  quickly  fol- 
lowed ;  for  on  the  5th  of  Auguft  the  Doctor  mentions 
his  being  called   to  his  firft  patient.     To  the  fame  pur- 
pofe  we  are  informed  by  Dr.  Clarke  that  "  the  fever  made 
"  its  appearance  in  Dominica  about  the  i5th  of  June, 
"  1793,  a  few  days  after  the  arrival  of  a  great  number  of 
*c  French  emigrants.     They  were  not  lick,  and  the  fever 
"  had  not  made  its  appearance  in  Martinique  when  they 
"  left  it.     From  the1  ift  of  July  to  the  ift  of  Oftobcr  it 

"  was 


480  A   TREATISE    ON 

"  was  computed  that  eight  hundred  emigrants,  including 
*e  their  fervants  and  flaves,  were  cut  off  by  this  fever  $ 
"  and  about  two  hundred  Englifh,  including  new  com- 
66  ers,  failors,  foldiers  and  negroes,  all  fell  victims  to  it 
"  in  the  fame  fpace  of  time.  Few  new  corners  efcaped 
*c  an  attack,  and  few  recovered.  It  fpared  neither  age 
"  nor  fex  among  the  Europeans  and  emigrants ;  and  not 
"  only  the  people  of  colour  from  the  other  iflands,  but  the 
*c  new  negroes  who  had  been  lately  imported,  were  all 
"  attacked.  Such  as  had  been  long  on  the  ifland 
"  efcaped."* 

Thefe  fads  feem  to  point  out  one  of  the  caufes,  and 
very  probably  a  principal  caufe,  of  this  dreadful  diftem- 
per.  They  fhow  very  evidently  that  there  is  a  connex- 
ion between  war  and  difeafes.  It  has  formerly  been  at- 
tempted to  point  out  a  natural  connexion  between  the 
horrid  practices  of  men,  on  thefe  occafions,  and  the 
production  of  difeafe.  Thefe  inveftigations,  however 
chimerical  they  may  be  reckoned,  are  yet  fupported  by 
many  fadts,  which  undoubtedly  prove  that  mankind 
cannot  always  maltreat  and  torment  one  another  with 
impunity.  The  affair  of  the  Black  aflizes,  and  Old  Bai- 
ley fefFion,  in  1750,  (hows,  that  by  confinement  and 
bad  ufage  the  human  body,  without  being  apparently 
deprived  even  of  health,  may  become  poifonous  to  thofe 
around  it,  and  produce  dreadful  difeafes.  In  like  man- 
ner the  inhabitants  of  St.  Domingo,  having  been  put  to 
the  moil  dreadful  diftrefs,  becari^  properly  fitted  for 
fpreading  deftru&ion  whereever  they  went.-j-  It  is  even 
probable  that,  in  proportion  to  the  degree  of  diftrefs  fuf- 
fered  by  thefe  people,  the  difeafe  communicated  by 
them  will  be  malignant;  nay,  that  new  difeafes  may 
ipring  up,  which  cannot  be  treated  with  fuccefs  by  any 

method 

*  Medical  Review,  vol.  iv. 

f  Dr.  Mofeley  who  has  written  at  fome  length  on  the  interruption  given  ta 
military  operations  by  difeafes,  gives  an  account  of  general  falling's  expedi- 
tion in  1780,  where  the  Englifh  troops,  confined  in  the  caftle  of  St.  Juan,  in 
an  unhealthy  fituation  on  the  river  Nicaragua,  were  cut  off  by  difeafes  ;  but 
thefe  were  riuxes  and  intermittents.  He  doth  not  mention  the  yellow  fever 
among  them.  He  tells  us  indeed  that  the  troops  under  general  Garth  brought 
the  jail  fever  along  with  them,  and  that  thofe  who  returned  to  Jamaica  were 
ha  raffed  with  obftinate  intermrtteutst  with  dianliceaf  d/fentery,  or  paifcfui 
enlargements  of  the  liver  and  fpleen. 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER,  481 

thcthod  yet  known  to  phyficians.  With  regard  to  the 
difeafe  in  queftion,  it  Teems  plainly  to  have  from  fome 
caufe  or  other  received  an  additional  malignity.  Dr. 
Chifholm  fays  that  what  he  calls  the  Boullam  fever  was 
fappofed  in  Grenada  to  have  been  the  common  yellow 
fever  of  the  Weft  Indies  engrafted  on  the  jail  fever.  Dr. 
Lind,  Dr.  Jackfon,  and  even  Dr.  Chifholm  himfelf, 
agree  that  the  former  is  not  infectious  :  but  from  what 
has  been  already  faid  the  evidence  feems  to  prevail  in 
favour  of  the  opinion  that  the  latter  is  fo.  Should  we 
then  allow  that  two  kinds  of  this  fever  might  exift  at 
the  fame  time,  in  one  city,  the  difficulty  would  be  at 
once  removed.  But  this  has  been  reckoned  by  many, 
particularly  by  Dr.  Ruth,  as  totally  inadmiffible  ;  and 
indeed  it  is  a  maxim  confonant  to  general  experience* 
that  two  epidemics  cannot  exift  in  one  place  at  the  fame 
time,  or  that  two  difeafes  can  fcarcely  exift  at  once  in 
the  human  body.  This  however  muft  be  underftood, 
principally  at  leaft,  of  acute  difeafes,  or  fuch  as  affect  the 
whole  fyftem  ;  for  if  any  difeafe  of  a  particular  part  (hall 
take  place^  it  does  not  feem  impoflible  that  a  fever  may  be 
fuperadded  to  fuch  local  difeafe.  The  following  confi- 
derations  may  perhaps  throw  fome  light  on  the  fubjecl: : 
It  appears  from  the  experiments  of  Dr.  Adair  Craw- 
ford, that,  when  animals  are  icnmerfed  in  hot  water,  the 
blood  drawn  from  a  vein  is  of  a  florid  red  colour.  la 
fummer  it  is  likewife  obferved  to  be  of  a  more  florid  co- 
lour than  in  winter.  If  heat  thus  gives  a  more  bright 
red  to  the  blood,  it  undoubtedly  alfo  makes  it  more 
fluid,  and  in  proportion  to  its  fluidity  it  will  likewife  be- 
come acrimonious  5  though  this  acrimony  is  not  necef- 
fariiy  connected  with  a  florid  colour,  as  the  blood  of 
the  arteries  is  not  more  fo  than  that  in  the  veins.  In 
the  yellow  fever,  however,  the  blood  fometimes,  towards 
the  end  of  the  difeafe,  becomes  endowed  with  extreme 
acrimony.  Dr.  Smith,  in  one  of  his  letters  to  Dr.  Buel, 
obferves,  that  "  blood  drawn  in  the  fever  of  1795  was 
"  remarkably  wanting  in  florid ity  ;  efpecially  what  was 
"  evacuated  towards  the  clofe  of  the  difeafe,  whether  by 
44  art,  or  fpontaneous  effufion.  In  one  inftance  it  feemed 

q  *'  endowed 


4^2  A    TREATISE    ON 

"  endowed  with  a  cauftic  quality,  and  affected  a  lancet 
<c  fo  as  to  leave  a  permanent  difcolouration  and  inequality 
"  on  its  furface."     He  obferves  alfo,  nay,  confiders  it  as 
demon/hated,  that  the  yellow  fever  is  not  a  difeale  of  vaf- 
cular  debility,  and  he  fays  that  it  is  attended  with  an 
afton ifl-ung  fluidity,  or,  as  it  is  called,  dlffblution  of  the 
blood.     Every  one  therefore  who  comes  from  a  cold  to 
a  warm  climate  muft  in  fome  degree  or  other  have  his 
blood  liquefied,  and  in  a  certain  proportion  rendered 
more  acrimonious  than  before.     This  acrimony  may  be 
undoubtedly  augmented  by  certain  caufes,  and  by  none 
more  probably  than  immoderate  drinking  of  fpiritous 
liquors.     Every  one  therefore  who  comes  from  a  cold 
country  to  a  warm  one,  efpecially  where  the  air  is  alfo 
moift,  may  confider  himielf  as  already  difeafed,  at  leaft 
in  comparifon  with  what  he  was  when  at  home.      For 
the  blood  is  now  expofed  to  a  greater  degree  of  heat, 
and  confequently  is  about  to  abforb,  or  rather  may  be 
confidered  as  in  the  ad  of  abforbing,  more,  and  con- 
fequently of  changing  from  a  thicker  to  a  thinner  or 
more  fluid  ftate;    the  latter  being  the  natural  fituation 
of  the  blood  in  warm  countries.      Dr.  Rufh,  in  his  in- 
quiry into  the  proximate  caufe  of  fever,  has  accounted 
for  the  diffolved  appearance  of  the  blood  in  malignant 
fevers  to  a  tendency  in  the  blood -veflels  to  paralytic  affec- 
tion.     He  fays  that  "  it  (the  diffolution  of  the  blood) 
"  begins  in  the  veins,  in  which  mufcular  action  is  more 
"  feeble  than  in  the  arteries.     This  has  been  proved  by 
"  Dr.  Mitchill  in  his  account  of  the  yellow  fever  in  Vir- 
*'  ginia  in  1741.     He  found  the  blood  to  be   diffolved 
<c  when  drawn  from  the  veins,  which,  when  drawn  from 
"  the  arteries  of  the  fame  perfons,  exhibited  no  marks 
"  of  diffolution."     This,  as  the  Doctor  obferves,  "  is  a 
fadl  of  great   importance;"    only  we  muft  remember, 
that,  in  every  thing  relative  to  the  human  body,  when 
we  find  two   phenomena  contlantly  accompanying  each 
other,  it  is  extremely  difficult  for  us  to  determine  which  is 
caufe  or  effccl:.    Instances  of  this  often  occur ;  and  in  the 
prefent  cafe  the  dilemma  is  as  great  as  any  other.  Though, 
from  the  teftimony  of  Dr.  Mitchill,  we  cannot  doubt 

"  that 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER.  485 

that  in  yellow  fever  the  diffolution  begins  in  the  veins; 
and  though  it  is  likewife  extremely  probable  that  this 
diffolution  is  attended  with  a  paralytic  tendency,  we 
cannot  know  whether  the  diffolution  is  the  caufe  of  the 
paralytic  tendency,  or  the  paralytic  tendency  the  caufe  of 
the  diffolution,  The  point,  however,  is  of  no  impor- 
tance. We  fee  that  in  warm  climates  the  blood  of 
a  perfon  newly  arrived  has  a  natural  tendency  to  dif- 
folution, and  of  courfe  the  veins  to  the  paralytic  af- 
fection juft  mentioned.  The  liver  therefore,  which 
is  fupplied  with  blood  by  a  large  vein  branched  out 
like  an  artery,  and  terminating  in  other  veins  to  car- 
ry back  the  blood  from  the  former,*  muft  be  much 
more  affe&ed  than  any  other  part  of  the  body  ;  and  this 
indeed  feems  a  very  probable  reafon  why  all  thofe  who 
come  to  warm  countries  become  much  more  inclined  to 
bilious  complaints,  which  denote  an  affection  of  the 
liver,  than  they  were  before.  This  hepatic  affection 
may  very  probably  be  greatly  augmented,  in  new  comers, 
by  various  caufes.  One  of  thefe  is  hard  labour  under  a 
greater  heat  than  they  have  been  accuftomed  to ;  a 
fecond,  that  in  the  Weft  India  iflands  they  have  not 
accefs  to  that  plentiful  fupply  of  fermented  liquor,  a- 
bounding  infixed  air,  which  they  had  at  home.  This, 
though  not  generally  taken  notice  of,  is  far  from  being  a 
matter  of  little  confequence  ;  for,  though  emigrants  from 
Britain  and  Ireland  have  been  for  the  mod  part  accuf- 
tomed to  drink  fpiritous  liquors,  yet  fermented  malt 
liquors  certainly  conflitute  the  principal  part  of  their 
drink.  The  total  want  of  thefe,  and  the  fubftitution  of 
ardent  fpirit  and  water,  muft  certainly  be  detrimental, 
even  though  they  keep  within  the  bounds  of  moderation, 
and  much  more  if  they  do  not.  Dr.  Mofeley  relates,-}- 
from  Dr.  Irving,  that,  in  a  bad  kind  of  intermittent 
which  broke  out  among  the  troops  in  fervice  on  the 
Spanifh  main  in  1780,  "  nothing  was  fo  grateful  as  Lon- 
>'  don  bottled  porter.  Wine  was  neither  fo  much  defired 
:  by  the  fick,  nor  fo  Serviceable  in  corroborating  and 
*'  keeping  up  the  powers  of  the  ftomach  $  which,  like 

"  the 

*  Seep.  94.          f  Treatife  on  Tropical  Difeafes,  p,  173. 


484  A    TREATISE    ON 

**  the  reft  of  the  body,  was  foon  reduced,  from  the 
"  flighted  indifpofition,  to  the  loweft  ftate  of  debility." 
A  third  caufe  is  no  doubt  their  frequently  dr.inking  too 
freely  of  fpiritous  liquors,  perhaps  hot  of  the  bed  qua? 
lity  ;  and  which,  as  they  are  neither  conjoined  with  the 
fixed  air  nor  with  the  mucilage  which  as  it  were  invif- 
cate  and  blunt  their  force  in  malt  liquors,  cannot  fail  of 
exerting  their  deleterious  properties  in  a  very  remarka- 
ble manner. 

From  thefe  and  other  caufes  there  muft  neceiTarily 
arife  a  predifpofition  to  hepatic  difeafes  j  and  this  pre- 
di(polition  cannot  be  removed  until  the  blood  has  af- 
fumed  the  ilate  of  fluidity  proper  to  the  climate  in  which 
they  are,  and  the  body  has  acquiefcecl  in  the  change. 
They  are  then  faid  to  bz  feafoned  to  the  climate  ;  and  it 
is  feldom  that  this  feafoning  takes  place  without  a  dif- 
eafe  ;  indeed  fo  feldom,  that  the  firft  illnefs  which  hap- 
pens to  feize  them  after  their  arrival  is  called  the  feafon- 
ing.  Dr.  Trotter  indeed  gives  a  very  different  account 
of  this  feafoning.  He  considers  thole  who  come  from 
a  cold  to  a  warm  climate  as  having  a  redundancy  both 
of  excitement  and  excitability,  and  fays  that  "  to  wear 
"  out  tlds  accumulated  excitability  by  flow  and  gentle  gra- 
"  dations  is  the  grand  explanation  of  the  word  feafoning : 
;C  it  is  thefecret  which  conftitutes  the  only  difference  be- 
"  tween  the  inhabitants  of  England  and  Jamaica.  The 
;?  yellow  fever  of  the  Weil  Indies  therefore,  as  it  appears 
:c  in  the  body  of  a  raw  European,  is  a  difeafe  of  the 
•c  utmqft  excitement,  in  a  conftitution  of  accumulated  exci- 
• e  t  ability  ;  where  a  tenfe  fibre  and  denfe  blood  permit  it 
;£  to  be  carried  to  the  higheft  pitch  of  inflammatory 
"  tendency  ;  which,  from  the  nature  of  the  animal  eco- 
"  nomy,  ipeedily  e;:hautls  the  powers  of  life,  even  in  a 
:c  day  or  two,  inducing  putrefaction  and  death." 

Explanations  of  this  kind  may  edify  thole  who  un- 
(dcrftand  them  j  but,  though  we  (hould  declaim  ever  fo 
much  about  excitement  and  excitability,  it  is  plain, 
that,  in  every  one  who  comes  from  a  cold  country  to  a 
warm  one,  the  liver  is  affected  in  a  manner  that  the  reft 
of  the  body  is  not.  In  feme  confutations,  or  from  ex- 
citing 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER.  485 

citing  caufes  in  any  conftitution,  this  affeftion  of  the 
!iver  may  be  augmented,  and  no  doubt  at  lad  produce 
a  bilious  fever,  which  may  be  varied  in  a  number  of 
ways,  accopding  to  the  nature  or  the  energy  of  thefe 
paufes.  The  pure  bilious  fever,  being  of  itfelf  properly 
a  local  affection,  may  not  be  contagious ;  and  we  find  it 
generally  agreed  among  phyficians  that  the  common 
yellow  fever  of  the  Weft  Indies  is  not  infectious.  Ne- 
verthelefs,  it  feems  by  no  means  improbable  that  from 
certain  circumftances  contagion  may  be  joined  with  it, 
and  it  may  then  fpread  and  infeft,  even  as  the  moft 
deadly  plague.  Dr.  Crawford  relates,  that,  in  the  year 
1770,  a  new  kind  of  fever  broke  out  in  the  Middlefex; 
Indiaman,  of  which  many  died.  It  is  not  faid  that  the 
difeafe  was  contagious ;  but,  on  opening  the  bodies  of 
fome  who  died,  the  liver  was  found  enlarged,  and  of  a 
more  florid  colour  than  it  ought  to  be.  It  cannot  be 
deemed  impoflible  that  contagion,  even  that  of  the  true 
plague,  might  be  mixed  with  this  fever,  which  (as 
the  affection  of  the  liver  was  probably  the  original 
difeafe,  might  have  been  accounted  little  other  than 
fymptornatic)  would  then  have  afTumed  very  malignant 
fymptoms. 

We  might  now  fay  that  we  have  got  to  the  end  of 
our  fubject.  Having  fo  amply  difcuffed  the  queftion 
concerning  contagion,  and  dated  the  principal  part  of 
the  evidence  againft  it,  it  feems  proper  to  conclude  the 
Section  with  a  (hort  hiftory  of  the  difeafe  in  the  malig- 
nant form  it  has  affumed  in  the  United  States  lince  the 
year  1792.  Still,  however,  it  is  neceiTary  to  fay  fome- 
thing  further  of  one  or  two  of  the  caufes  which  have 
teen  commonly  affigned  as  neceflarily  inducing  this 
difeafe.  Thefe  are,  i.  Extreme  heat,  and,  2.  Marfh 
effluvia.  The  effect  of  the  former  has  already,  been 
partly  confidered  as  a  predifponent  caufe  of  yellow  fever  t 
but  it  doth  not  appear  that  merely  from  this  caufe  the 
difeafe  has  ever  been  produced.  It  hath  indeed  been 
obferved  by  very  intelligent  phylicians,  that  in  Virginia 
the  remitting  fever  has  often  been  brought  on  by  mere 
expofure  to  the  fun,  Dr.  Oliver  of  Salem  hath  obli- 
gingly 


4S6  A    TREATISE   ON 

gingly  informed  me,  that  he  has  "  in  more  than  one  in* 
lance  been  feized  with  that  difeafe  after  riding  in  the 
fun;**  and  that  an  eminent  practitioner  in  Virginia  had 
informed  him  that  he  had  alfo  more  than  once  fuffered 
in  the  fame  way.  Drs.  Taylor  and  Hansforth  obfervc* 
that,  when  the  remitting  fever  proves  mortal,  it  is  gene- 
sally  attended  by  ficknefs  and  perpetual  vomiting  $ 
which  is  the  termination  of  the  yellow  fever.  The  above 
(evidence  is  decifive  with  regard  to  heat  being  able  to 
produce  a  remittent,  but  cannot  exactly  apply  to  the 
yellow  fever,  which  has  no  remifllons,  Two  failors  in- 
deed, lately  brought  from  a  coafting  veHel  to  the  Salem 
hofpital,  were  attacked  with  violent  fymptoms  of  yellow 
fever  without  having  been,  as  is  faid,  expofed  to  any  in- 
fection. But  evidence  of  this  kind  cannot  be  fuppofed 
to  be  incontrovertible.  We  have  already  feen  the  diffi- 
culty of  afcertaining  fa&s  ;  and  if  it  is  difficult  to  prove 
that  contagion  has  been  received,  it  muft  be  ftiil  more 
Ib  ta  prove  that  it  has  not.  The  perfons  in  queftion  had 
both  worked  during  a  very  hot  day  in  a  veffefs  hold, 
they  afterwards  fat  expofed  in  the  damp  air  of  the  evening 
on  the  deck  until  10  o'clock  at  night,  and  then  ilept 
in  the  veiTePs  cabin  with  the  windows  open.  One  of  them 
was  feized  in  the  night  with  a  naoft  violent  pain,,  and  the 
other  on  the  morning  fucceeding.  It  is  faid  that  about 
II  months  fince  this  vefFel  was  at  New  York,  and  that  a 
perfon  on  board  had  the  yellow  fever ;  it  is  alfo  alleged 
that  the  veffel  was  not  purified.,  and  that  the  beds  re- 
mained on  board.  It  has  therefore  been  by  fome  con- 
jectured that  the  difeafe  might  have  been  derived  from 
this  fource. 

Dr.  Ramfay,  in  a  letter  to  Dr.  Come  of  Philadelphia, 
cenfures  Dr.  Lining  for  faying  that  the  yellow  fever  was 
imported  into  South  Carolina.  "  The  greater  yellow- 
nefs  of  the  fkin  (fays  he)  appears  to  be  the  only  circum- 
ftance  in  which  it  differs  from  the  bilous  remittent  fe- 
vers of  hot  climates,  or  very  hot  feafons  of  any  climate/' 
Our  author  alfo  cenfures  Dr.  Lind  of  Haflar,*  who,  he 

fays, 

*  If  phyficians  cenfure  one  another  at  this  rate*  how 
T&Q  gives  a  tras  ftate  ct  the  mattes  £ 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER.  487 

fays,  has  been  milled  by  the  tnifreprefentatwns  of  Dr0 
Warren  and  others.  He  alfo  gives  into  the  opinion  that 
coatagion  acts  only  by  contact,  or  at  a  very  little  dif- 
tance ;  but  this  fubjed  we  cannot  enter  farther  into  at 
prefent.  If  we  can  believe  Dr.  Mofeley,  the  fure  crite- 
,rion  by  which  the  yellow  fever  may  be  diftinguifhed 
from  any  other  is,  that  the  former  hath  no  remif- 
iions.*  If  folitary  cafes  of  it  appear  in  Carolina  and  the 
fouthern  States  every  year,  this  will  not  prove  that  the 
difeafe  was  generated  in  the  country,  any  more  than  that 
the  plague  was  generated  in  London,  becaufe  it  appear- 
ed there  for  many  years  fucceflively. 

But,  if  the  heat  of  the  fun  cannot  produce  the  true 
yellow  fever,  it  can  kill  fuddenly  without  any  fever 
whatever.  This  is  faid  by  Dr.  Mofeley  to  be  lefs  fre- 
quent in  the  Weft  India  iflands  than  on  the  eaftern  and 
weftern  continents.  He  fays  that  he  has  felt  as  great 
inconvenience  from  the  fun's  heat  at  Venice,  Naples, 
Rome,  Montpelier,  and  in  Virginia,  as  in  the  Weft  In- 
dies ;-}-  but  he  concludes  that  the  tranjitions  from  heat 
to  cold  are  more  pernicious  to  the  human  body  than  any 
continued  heat,  however  violent. 

With  regard  to  the  effluvia  of  marfhes,  it  is  not  deni- 
ed that  they  produce  fevers,  but  thofe  fevers  are  of  the 
intermittent  or  remittent  kind.  Dr.  Smith  indeed,  in 
the  flrft  volume  of  the  Medical  Repository,  labours  to 
prove  that  the  plague  defcribed  by  Thucydides  was  not 

efientially 

*  This  pofition  of  Dr.  Mofeley  is  not  univerfally  received.  The  meaning 
of  the  word  rem!jfien  certainly  is  a  temporary  abatement*  and  implies  & 
recurrence,  of  the  lame  fymptoms  which  originally  took  place.  Dr.  Mofeley 
defcribes  the  yellow  fever  as  beginning  with  one  kind  of  fymptoms  which 
fuddenly  ceaie  and  are  fucceeded  after  a  certain  interval  by  others  of  a  quite 
«liiterent  kind  ;  and  he  claims  the  difcovery  as  his  own.  If  he  be  right  in 
this  description,  the  jellow  fever  is  certainly  net  a  remittent ;  if  otherwife* 
it  rrtuft  be  difficult  to  eftablifh  any  true  diftin&ion  between  them. 

i  At  Stralburg,  in  Germany;  our  author  fays  that  he  faw  a  man  who  had 
been  an  idiot  for  more  than  a  year  from  a  ftroke  of  the  fun.  The  8th  of  July 
1707  was  ib  hot  in  England  that  many  people  died  at  their  work,  and  many 
horlcs  and  oxeu  were  killed  by  the  fun's  rays.  In  1743,  eleven  tboufand  peo- 
ple periihed  from  the  Z4th  to  the  *5th  of  July  in  the  ftreetsof  Pekinin  China. 
On  the  joth  of  July,  1705,  the  heat  at  Montpelier  was  fo  great,  that  eggs  were 
roafted  by  it,  Chalmers,  in  his  account  of  the  weather  and  difeafes  of  South 
Carolina,  fays,  that  he  has  feen  a  beef-fteak,  laid  on  a  cannon  for  twenty 
jninutes,  deprived  ofits  juices,  and  overdone  by  the  exceffive  force  <*f  the 
fun's  rays, 


483  A    TREATISE  ON 

effentially  different  from  the  fevers  which  fometimes  pre- 
vail in  North  America,  and  that  it  had  its  origin  from 
marfli  effluvia  and  the  ravages  of  war.  That  this  dif- 
temper  was  not  the  plague  defcribed  by  Ruflel  we  may 
gather  from  a  fingle  cireumftance  :  for  Ruffel  tells  us 
that  freezing  never  occurred  in  the  plague  defcribed  by 
him,*  while  Thucydides  fays  that  it  was  one  of  the  com- 
mon fymptoms  of  his.  Neither  does  the  defcription  of  it 
(Appendix  No.  i)  at  all  agree  with  any  of  the  accounts 
of  the  yellow  fever  we  have.  The  climate  of  Attica  no 
doubt  was  variable,  and  may  in  this  refpect  refemblc 
that  of  North  America  ;  but  fo  is  the  climate  of  China, 
yet  no  fuch  difeafes  are  there  produced  The  Doctor 
concludes  that  the  diftemper  originated  from  /0f<?/caufes  ; 
but  the  difficulty  we  find  in  proving  fu:b  o-igin  of  dif- 
eafes in  our  own  days,  and  in  the  country  where  we  re- 
fide,  muft  certainly  make  us  look  upon  the  proofs  which 
can  be  brought  for  the  local  origin  of  a  difeafe  which 
happened  two  thoufand  years  ago,  and  in  a  diftant 
country,  as  very  equivocal.  The  following  extract  from 
the  Paris  Medical  Memoirs  may  be  adduced  as  a  proof 
of  the  intrinfic  power  of  marfh  mud  to  produce  fevers,, 
It  is  contained  in  a  paper  written  by  Dr.  Perkins  of  Bofton. 
"  A  farmer  was  in  the  practice  of  fpreading,  upon  about 
"  thirty  acres  of  tan-Jy  fome  new  murfh  mud,  from  O&o- 
"  her  to  April  annually,  to  increafe  the  fertility  of  the 
*c  foil.  In  the  fummer  of  the  third  year,  thofe  inhabi- 
**  tants  who  lived  to  the  northward  and  eaftward  of  the 
"  place  were  attacked  with  a  very  malignant  fever,  which 
"  generally  proved  mortal.  What  is  a  proof  that  the 
ct  marfli  mud  was  the  caufe  of  the  difeafe  is,  its  extent, 
*6  which  was  not  more  than  a  mile  and  an -half  from  the 
"  farmer's  houfe,  in  the  direction  of  the  fouthcrly  and 
"  wefterly  winds.  Perhaps  had  this  marfli  mud  been* 
"  wafhed  by  plentiful  rains,  the  danger  would  have 
*£  been  lefs.  Something  like  it  happened  to  the  inhabi- 
&c  tants  of  the  marfhes  in  Eofi  SnJfany,  (les  marais  fitues 
*c  a  1'eft  dans  le  Sudberg)  where  the  paffage  for  the  wa- 
44  ters  was  too  deep,  and  too  confined.  In  regular  fea- 

"  forts 

*  See  the  Table* 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER.  489 

"  fons  they  were  attacked  with  fimple  intermittent  fevers; 
"  but,  after  wet  feafons,  there  prevailed  among  them  ma- 
"  lignant  fevers,  and  very  obftinate  remittents.  Since 
"  the  marfhes  have  been  drained,  the  inhabitants  are  no 
"  longer  fubject  to  fevers,  and  are  as  healthy  as  thofe  of 
"  others  places.  We  know  that  there  are  local  epi- 
"  demies,  which  are  produced  by  a  low,  wet,  and  rich 
"  foil ;  fuch  are,  probably,  thofe  which  prevail  in  the 
"  lower  part  of  New  York,  which,  according  to  the  in- 
"  formations  obtained  by  Mr.  Perkins,  is  more  unheal- 
"  thy  towards  the  end  of  the  fummer  than  the  other  part 
"  of  the  city,  and  whofe  inhabitants  are  fubject  to  difeafes 
*'  of  a  putrid  car  aft  ere. 

"  It  appears,  from  feveral  obfervations,  that  the  moft 
"  mortal  epidemic  fevers  are  not  commonly  produced 
*'  by  caufes  operating  immediately  :  the  caufe  often  ex- 
"  ifting  feveral  months  before  the  difeafe  even  appears." 

The  other  arguments  ufed  by  Dr.  Smith  in  his  letters 
to  Dr.  Buel  proceed  upon  the  ftate  of  the  city,  the  mode 
of  living,  &c.  and  the  condition,  of  moft  of  the  emi- 
grants, their  bad  accommodations,  and  efpecially  their 
abufe  of  fpiritous  liquors.  The  neglect  of  bathing  is 
alfo  much  complained  of,  and  a  cemparifon  made  with 
the  conduct  of  the  French  in  this  and  other  refpects, 
greatly  to  the  advantage  of  the  latter. 

Drs.  Taylor  and  Hansforth  confider  the  difeafe  which 
took  place  in  Norfolk  in  Virginia  as  only  an  higher  de- 
gree of  the  common  remittent  fever  which  ufually  pre- 
vails, and  afcribe  it  to  the  long-continued  heat,  putre- 
fcence,  &c.  '  Some  French  mips  were  faid  to  have 
brought  the  difeafe,  but  thefe  arrived  "  fo  long  before 
the  difeafe  appeared,  that  (the  Doctors  think)  it  would 
be  abfurd  to  fuppofe  even  a  poffibility  of  its  being  de- 
rived from  them/'  Mr.  Webfter  adds,  in  a  note,  that 
the  French  corvettes,  three  of  which  fquadron  were 
taken  by  the  Thetis,  capt.  Cochran,  "  anchored  in 
"  Hampton  Roads,  May  i8th.  The  fever  did  not 
"  appear  in  Norfolk  till  Auguft.  captain  Cochran's 
"  crew,  however,  took  the  fever  from  the  French  prifoners, 
*>'  and  twelve  of  them  died  before  the  Thetis  reached 

R  r  r  «  Halifax," 


49*  A   TREATISE    ON 

"  Halifax."  This  is  certainly  a  fufpicious  circum- 
fiance. 

Dr.  Ram  fay,  in  his  letter  to  Dr.  Mitchill  concerning 
the  fame  diitemper,  obferves  that  it  was  confined  almoft 
entirely  to  foreigners,  of  whom  he  gives  a  very  unfa- 
vourable account.  The  fituation  of  the  town,  putre- 
fcence,  &c.  are  likewife  brought  in  for  a  (hare,  as  well  as 
the  feafon,  which  had  been  uncommonly  warm. 

Thefe  are  the  principal  evidences  that  have  been 
brought  for  and  againft  the  origin  of  the  difeafe  which 
fince  1792  has  raged  with  fuch  violence  in  the  United- 
States.  Innumerable  pieces  have  appeared  in  the  Newf- 
papers  on  both  fides  of  the  queftion,  the  moft  remarka- 
ble of  which  are  the  letters  of  Mr.  Noah  Webfter  to  Dr. 
Currie.  Thefe,  however,  we  cannot  now  confider,  as  we 
cannot  expect  indeed  that  they  fhould  contain  any  thing 
elte  than  a  fuller  detail  of  what  has  already  been  fet  forth. 
Mr.  Webfter  betides,  in  his  letters,  owns  that  he  is  not  a 
medical  man  ;  nay,  that  he  had  not  "  read  above  three  op 
four  medical  books."  I  hope  therefore  the  reader  will 
€xcufe  the  preference  given  in  this  treatife  to  the  writings 
and  arguments  of  thofe  who  are  acquainted  with  medi- 
cine both  by  reading  and  practice.  The  difpute  between 
the  College  and  Academy  of  medicine  can  be  fettled  only 
by  themfelvcs  ;  the  only  fafe  line  of  conduct  feems  to  be 
to  admit  both  doctrines,  and  to  take  every  method  of 
preventing  the  introduction  of  the  difeafe,  whether  fup- 
pofed  to  be  generated  or  imported. 

Whether  the  diftemper  which  has  fo  fatally  prevailed 
iince  the  year  1793-  be  naturally  connected  with  the 
troubles  in  Europe  and  the  Weft  Indies  or  not,  it  is  cer- 
tain that  it  has  been  cotemporary  with  them.  In  New 
York  the  difeafe  appeared  in  179-1,  but  we  are  not  fur- 
niihed  with  any  particular  accounts  of  it  at  that  time; 
nor  does  it  appear  to  have  made  any  great  ravages,  either 
on  the  continent  or  the  Weft  India  iflands,.  till  1793. 
At  this  time  the  war  raged  in  Europe  with  fury;  the 
French  royalifts  were  every  where  driven  out,  and  dif- 
trefed  in  every  poflible  way.  Defolation  and  flaughter 
prevailed  at  St,  Domingo,  while  an  unbounded  inter- 

courfe 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER. 

courfe  took  place  between  the  United  States  and  all  thofe 
nations  who  were  involved  in  the  calamities  refult- 
ing  from  the  unbridled  paffions  of  man  excited  to 
their  utmoft  pitch  of  ferocity.  In  the  midft  of  this  gene- 
ral commotion  the  fever  broke  out  in  the  Weft  India 
inlands,  appearing  firft  in  the  ifland  of  Grenada.  We 
have  feen,  that,  according  to  Dr.  Chifliolm,  this  difeafe 
was  brought  to  Grenada  in  the  Hankey,  from  the  coaft 
of  Africa,  on  the  i8th  of -February.  About  the  middle 
of  April  it  began  to  appear  on  land.  In  the  beginning 
of  May  it  reached  a  detachment  of  the  royal  artillery 
lying  at  a  diftance  from  the  focus  of  infe&ion,  "  but 
"  (fays  Dr.  Chifholm)  by  the  communication  which  the 
"  gunners  in  Fort  George  had  with  the  45th  regiment^ 
"  and  the  predifpodtion  of  the  men  to  receive  the  infec- 
"  tion  as  far  as  that  could  be  induced  by  excefles  in 
"  drinking,  and  other  irregularities."  About  the  firft  of 
June  the  difeafe  began  to  appear  among  the  negroes  of  the 
eftates  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  town,  but  never  at" 
tacked  them  with  the  fame  violence  that  it  did  the 
white  people.  During  the  months  of  May,  June  and 
July,  it  appeared  indifferent  parts  of  the  country  $  being, 
as  our  author  fuppofes,  carried  thither  by  infected  per- 
fons.  From  Grenada,  the  Doctor  fays,  the  difeafe 
fpread  to  the  iflands  of  Jamaica  and  St.  Domingo,  and 
from  the  latter  to  Philadelphia,  "  by  veffels  on  which 
"  the  infection  was  retained  by  the  clothes,  more  efpe- 
£t  cially  the  woollen  jackets,  of  the  deceafed  failors." 

This  account  of  the  origin  of  the  fever  at  Philadelphia^ 
as  we  have  already  feen,  is  inadmiffible  by  thofe  who 
deny  the  contagious  nature  of  the  difeafe  ;  but  as  the 
latter  have  never  given  any  diftioct  account  of  its  rife,  or 
fhown  why  it  fliould  firft  appear  in  one  ifland  and  then  in 
another,  inftead  of  beginning  in  them  all  at  once,  we 
muft  adhere  to  that  of  Dr.  Chifliolm,  till  we  are  furnifh- 
ed  with  a  better. 

In  Philadelphia  it  has  already  been  obferved,  that  Dr. 
Rum  was  called  to  his  firft  patient  on  the  5th  of  Auguft  ; 
but  Mr.  Carey  mentions  a  child  of  Dr.  Hodges  *'  as 
probably  the  firft  victim  ;"  who  was  taken  ill  on  the 


49*  A    TREATISE    ON 

a6th  or  zyth  of  July.  This  fame  month  the  unfortu- 
nate fugitives  had  arrived  from  Cape  Francois;  and  we 
have  already  feen,  from  Dr.  Clarke,  that  the  arrival  of 
fome  of  their  fellow-fufferers  in  Dominica  had  the  fame 
dreadful  attendant.  Whether  the  diforder  is  to  be 
afcribed  to  the  arrival  of  thefe  people  in  either  place,  the 
reader  will  judge.  Other  vefTels  are  charged  with  having 
imported  the  fame;  but,  facts  being  difputed,  we  can- 
not enter  into  the  controverfy. 

The  difeafe  began  in  Water-ftreet,  to  a  particular 
part  of  which,  near  to  that  where  the  fufpe&ed  mips  lay, 
it  was  for  fome  time  confined,  but  did  not  excite  public 
alarm  till  about  the  i9th  of  Auguft.  From  this  time  to 
the  25th  of  the  month  the  attention  of  the  citizens  was 
fo  much  aroufed3  that  they  began  to  move  into  the  coun* 
try  ;  and  on  the  zzd,  the  city  commiiTioners  were  pe- 
remptorily ordered  by  the  mayor  to  keep  the  city  clean, 
On  the  26th  the  College  met,  and  addreffed  the  citizens 
on  the  fubject ;  recommending  fuch  means  of  prevent- 
ing the  fpreading  of  the  ficknefs  as  to  them  feemed  moft 
proper.  Among  thefe  were,  to  avoid  any  intercourfe 
with  the  infected,  to  live  temperate,  keep  their  minds 
eafy,  and  to  avoid  fatigue.  Lighting  of  fires  was  par- 
ticularly difapproved  of;  but  the  burning  of  gun- 
powder, and  the  fleams  of  vinegar  and  camphor,  were 
recommended  for  infected  rooms,  and  forulingon  hand- 
kerchiefs, and  in  fmelling-bottles. 

In  confequence  of  this  addrefs  alfo  the  bells  were  flop* 
ped  from  tolling*  the  conftant  noife  of  which  had  greatly 
contributed  to  increafe  the  public  alarm.  The  people, 
who  had  been  in  ufe  to  light  large  fires  in  the  corners  of 
the  ilreets,  being  forbid  on  the  zpth  by  proclamation  to 
do  fo,  had  recourfe  to  firing  of  guns  ;  which  was  at  lad 
carried  to  fuch  excefs,  that  it  alfo  was  prohibited  by 
proclamation  on  the  4th  of  September. 

Notwithflanding  all  thefe  precautions,  the  diftemper 
continued  to  increafe  in  fuch  a  manner  as  to  produce  the 
moft  dreadful  terror  and  difmay.  "  Indeed  (fays  Mr. 
"  Carey)  it  is  not  probable  that  London,  at  the  laft  ftage 
"  of  the  plague,  exhibited  ftronger  marks  of  terror  than 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER.  493 

"  were  to  be  feen  In  Philadelphia,  from  the  26th  or  27th 
"  of  Auguft,  till  pretty  late  in  September."  This  pro- 
duced fcenes  of  diftrefs  unparalleled  till  this  time  in  the 
city,  and  of  which  many  inftances  are  to  be  met  with 
in  Mr.  Carey's  account.  It  cannot,  however,  be  doubt- 
ed that  the  violence  of  the  diftemper,  its  contagious  na- 
ture, and  the  confequent  danger  of  vifiting  the  metro- 
polis, were  greatly  exaggerated.  Thus  terror  was  ftruck 
throughout  all  the  adjacent  dates.  At  Chefter-towo, 
in  Maryland,  a  meeting  was  held,  on  the  loth  of  Septem- 
ber, in  confequence  of  which  the  Eaftern  more  line  of 
ilages  was  quickly  flopped.  On  the  nth  of  the  fame 
month  it  was  ordered  by  the  mayor  of  New  York  that 
the  names  of  all  (uch  perfons  as  had  arrived  or  fhoulci 
arrive  from  Philadelphia  or  other  plac^,  by  land  or  water, 
that  were  or  fliould  be  fick,  mould  be  reported  to  him, 
that  thofe  who  were  fick  of  infe<5tious  difeafes  might  be 
removed  out  of  the  city.  Next  day  the  governor  pro- 
claimed that  all  veflels  from  Philadelphia  fhould  ap- 
proach no  nearer  than  Bedlow's  iiland,  about  two  miles 
from  the  town,  till  licenfe  was  given.  But  thefe  precau- 
tions not  being  deemed  fufficient,  a  night  watch  was  efta- 
blilhed,  and  next  day  an  addrefs  was  publifhed  by  dele- 
gates, purporting  the  infufficiency  of  all  that  had  been 
done,  and  again  calling  upon  their  fellow-citizens  to  exert 
their  utmoft  vigilance  in  detecting  the  fugitives  from  Phi- 
ladelphia. Various  other  refolutions  were  pafTed  in  New 
York  ;  and  throughout  the  whole  continent  fuch  mea- 
fures  were  taken  as  feemed  moil  likely  to  profcribe  the 
unhappy  Philadelphians,  and  to  prevent  their  having 
any  place  of  refuge  from  the  ficknefs  they  fo  much  dread- 
ed. On  the  i  ft  of  October,  however,  the  inhabitants 
of  Springfield,  in  New  Jerfey,  pafled  a  refolve,  offering 
their  town  as  an  afylum  for  the  people  of  Philadelphia, 
and  directing  an  hofpital  to  be  provided  for  the  recep- 
tion of  fuch  as  might  fall  fick.  Similar  refolutions  were 
paired  by  the  inhabitants  of  Elizabethtown,  and  Elkton 
in  Maryland. 

The  diftemper  in  the  mean  time  arrived  at  the  moft 
dreadful  height  in  Philadelphia,   and  almoft  all  thofe 

who 


494  A    TREATISE    ON 

who  could  take  the  charge  and  burthen  of  public  af- 
fairs were  abfent.     An  hofpital  had  been  eftablifhed  at 
Bufb  Hill,  bat,  for  want  of  fuperintendence,  had  fallen 
into  fuch  diforder,   that  the  poor  chofe  rather  to  deny 
their  illnefs  than  to  be  fent  to  it.     On  the  15th  of  Sep- 
tember, however,  Stephen  Girard,  a  native  of  France, 
and   a  wealthy  merchant,  together  with  Peter  Helm,  a 
native  of  Pennfylvania,  offered  their  fervices  as  fuper- 
intendants.     By  their  exertions  the  credit  of  the  hofpital 
was  foon  retrieved,  and  fuch  numbers  demanded  adrnit- 
tanc,  that  it  became  neceflary  for  each  candidate  to  pro- 
cure a  certificate  from  a  phyfician,  that  the  patient  really 
laboured  under  a  malignant  fever.    In  a  fhort  time  the  af- 
fairs of  the  city  went  on,  in  every  refped,  with  as  much 
regularity  as  could  be  expected  ;  but  the  mortality  increaf- 
ed  throughout  the  month  of  September,  and  the  three  firft 
weeks  of  October.     Great  hopes  were  entertained  from 
fome  cold  and  rainy  weather  in  the  end  September;  but 
they  proved  iiluftve,   and  the  difeafe  became  even  more 
fatal  than  before,  till  the  2 6th  of  Oclober,  when  it  fud- 
tknly  ceafed,  as  Mr.  Carey  fays,  with  hardly  any  rain, 
and  a  very  moderate  degree  of  cold.     "  That  day  (adds 
"  he)  was  as  warm  as  many  of  the  moft  fatal  ones  in  the 
"  early  part  of  the  month.     To  account  for  this  is  per- 
"  haps  above  our  power.     In  fact,  the  whole  of  the  dif- 
*c  order,  from  its  firft  appearance  to  its  final  clofe,  has  fet 
"  human  wifdom  and  calculation  at  defiance."    During 
the  time  of  this  calamity  Mr.  Carey  computes  thsLtfev&f* 
teen  thoufand  left  the  city,  and/owr  thoufand  and  thirty- 
one  perifoed. 

This  city  fuffered  another  attack  in  1794,  but  far  lefs 
fcvere  than  before.  In  1795  and  1796  the  difeafe  feems 
fcarcely  to  have  made  its  appearance  ;  but  in  1 797  it  reviv- 
ed, and,  in  1 798,  broke  out  with  greater  fury  than  even  in 
1793.  No  particular  hiftory  hath  been  pubiifhecl  of 
this  iaft  fevere  attack.  We  knew  only  ir*  general,  that, 
though  a  much  greater  number  of  the  inhabitants  fled 
out  of  town  in  1 798  than  in  1 793,  the  number  of  deaths 
was  almoft  P.?.  great  ^  being  efti mated  at  three  thou- 
i  eight  hundred  and  forty-one.  Great  difputes, 

as 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER.  495 

as  has  been  obfervcd,  have  taken  place  concerning  the 
origin  of  thefe  difeafes ;  on  which  we  (hall  only  further 
remark,  that  if,  after  fuch  repeated  and  dreadful  experi- 
ence of  the  bad  effects  of  allowing  putrid  matters  to  ac- 
cumulate, fuch  quantities  could  be  collected  as  to  pro- 
duce the  very  fatal  ficknefs  of  laft  year,  it  argues  a  moft 
unaccountable,  and  indeed  incredible,  infenfibihty  on  the 
part  of  the  people,  as  well  as  remifsnefs  on  that  of  the 
rnagiftrates  ;  and  this  perhaps  may  be  accounted  as 
ftrong  an  argument  in  favour  of  contagion  as  can  be 
adduced. 

That  fuch  a  violent  diftemperfhouldceafe  all  at  once, 
is  indeed  not  to  be  expected  3  and  we  have  already 
heard  of  its  again  appearing  in  the  city.  Fear  has  been 
very  juitly  excited,  there  and  in  other  places  ;  but  it  is 
to  be  hoped  that  the  remarkable  coolnefs  of  the  feafon 
will  operate  favourably  in  preventing  any  very  violent 
attack  for  this  year. 

New  York  has  alfo  fuffered  very  confiderably  from 
this  difeafe.  Here  it  appeared  in  1791,  in  the  autumn, 
and  in  a  part  of  the  town  remarkable  for  its  vicinity  to  a 
collection  of  filth.  In  1792  it  made  no  progrefs ;  and 
in  iy93>  though  fome  died  of  it  who  fled  from  Philadel- 
phia, it  did  not  fpread.  In  1794  it  returned  with  con- 
fiderable  violence,  and  with  ftill  greater  in  1795.  In 
the  hiftory  of  this  difeafe  by  Dr.  Seaman,*  he  takes  no- 
tice that  in  July  and  Auguft  an  unufual  number  of  per- 
Tons  differed  from  drinking  cold  water,  and  fome  fell 
down  and  died  in  the  ftreets  ;  but  the  Doctor  fuppofes 
this  to  have  happened  rather  through  the  exceflive  heat 
of  the  fun  than  the  drinking  of  water.  As  the  difeafe 
came  on,  all  others  gave  way  to  it,  even  "  the  common  re- 
mitting bilious  fever  ;"-f-  and  in  the  month  of  July  fome 
cafes  occurred.  We  have  already  had  occafion  to  take 
notice  of  the  death  of  Dr.  Treat,  who  was  taken  ill  on  the 
22d  of  July  ;  but  before  that  time,  on  the  6th  of  the 
fame  month,  Dr.  Seaman  fays  that,  in  conjunction  with 
this  gentleman,  he  had  vifited  a  patient  "  affected  with 
"  4lJ  the  full-marked  and  decided  fymptoms  of  an  highly 

"  malignant 
*  Med,  Rcpof,  vol.  i,  p,  316.  f  Webfter's 


496  A    TREATISE    ON 

"  malignant  yellow  fever."*  The  difeafe  continued  to 
gain  ground  in  Auguil,  and  became  extremely  violent 
in  that  and  the  following  month  ;  but,  according  to  our 
author,  the  low  ground  in  the  foutheaft  part  of  the  city 
tvas  the  "  grand  centre  of  the  calamity,  diffufing  its 
"  effeds  like  diverging  rays,  aiding,  by  its  mod  power- 
"  fill  influence,  different  fecondary  centres,  already  fmok- 
"  ing  hot,  to  flame  out  its  peftiferous  operations."  In 
this  part  of  the  town  five  hundred  died  in  three  months. 

The  attack  at  this  time  did  not  aroufe  the  people  to 
a  proper  fenfe  of  their  danger.  As  formerly,  the  origin 
of  the  difeafe  in  1795  had  been  attributed  to  the  filth  of 
the  city.  Next  year  it  was  attributed  to  the  fame,  and  fo 
in  1797  and 1 798.  This  laft  year,  particularly,  it  is  faid 
to  have  originated  partly  from  great  quantities  of  putrid 
beef  and  fifh,  collected  for  exportation,  and  which  could 
not  be  exported.  In  Mr.  Hardy's  account  of  this  fever, 
it  is  calculated  that  there  died  in  1798  two  thoufand 
and  eighty-fix  ;  but  that,  if  it  were  taken  into  the  ac- 
count how  many  left  the  town  and  died  in  the  country, 
the  number  would  amount  to  between  two  thoufand 
four  hundred,  and  two  thoufand  five  hundred. 

It  is  not  in  Philadelphia  and  New  York  alone  that 
this  dlftemper  has  prevailed.  BoRon,  Newburyport, 
Portftnouth,  Portland,  and  even  detached  fpots  in  the 
country,  to  which  it  is  not  poffible  to  trace  any  infec- 
tion, have  felt  its  ravages.  At  Salem  alfo,  where  the 
difeafe  was  never  known  before,  twenty-one  cafes  in- 
cluding fome  doubtful  ones  appeared  in  1798;  and  of 
thefe,  ek-ven  proved  fatal.  In  1796,  when  it  prevailed 
in  Newburyport,  it  was  fuppofed  to  have  been  in- 
troduced by  a  vefTel  from  the  Weft  Indies  ;  and,  ac- 
cording to  Dr.  Coffin,  the  opinion  would  have  been 
incontrovertible,  had  not  a  large  quantity  of  fifh-gar- 
bage  been  collected  at  the  place  where  the  veiTel 
landed  ;  fo  that,  though  the  difeafe  fpread  from  that 
place,  it  could  not  be  known  whether  it  proceeded  from 

the 

*  This  proves  that  Dr.  Treat  tvai  tut  the  firft  perfon  who  fuffered  by 
this  difeafe,  but  it  will  not  prove  that  the  difeafe  w*s  not  imported  by  Capt. 
Bird's  veffel  ;  for  the  fever  fpread  in  the  vicinity  of  the  veffdj  not  of  th« 
AJmftwwfc*  where  the  iiift  patient  was  carried. 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER.  497 

the  veffcl,  or  the  fifti,  or  both.  It  feems  now  unfortunate- 
ly to  be  the  cafe,  that  where  this  difeafe  once  gets  foot- 
ing it  cannot  eafily  be  eradicated.  If  we  fuppofe  it  always 
to  be  imported,  the  continual  intercourfe  with  the  Weft 
India  iflands  will  account  for  this ;  but  the  extreme  dif- 
ficulty, or  rather  jmpoflibility,  of  procuring  an  account 
of  faro  or  even  a  fingle  fadl:  which  cannot  be  contro- 
verted, renders  every  thing  that  can  be  faid  upon  the 
fubject  uncertain  and  precarious.  In  the  cafe  of  New 
London  particularly,  where  8 1  perfons  were  deftroyed 
by  it  lad  year,  neither  importation  nor  collections 
of  filth  could  be  affigned  as  the  caufe  -y  neverthelefs  it 
began  near  a  wharf • ;  but  Mr.  Holt,  in  his  account  of 
the  difeafe,  thinks  it  was  moft  probably  owing  to  the 
mere  heat  and  drynefs  of  the  feafon.  On  the  other 
fide  of  the  queftion,  however,  we  muft  ftill  infert  Dr, 
Brackett's  account  of  the  origin  of  the  difeafe  at  Portf- 
mouth,  in  anfwer  to  a  letter  from  Dr.  Oliver  of  this 
place. 

"  The  yellow  or  peflilential  fever  made  its  firft  appear* 
"  ance  at  Portfmouth,  about  the  firft  of  Auguft  laft. 
"  Eight  or  ten  days  before  that  time  a  vefiel  arrived  here 
"  from  Martinico,  and  brought  a  French  family  (four 
"  or  five  in  number.)  This  veiTel,  before  me  left  the 
"  Weft  Indies,  had  two  failors  taken  fick  (as  the  cap- 
"  tain  informed  me)  one  of  whom  died  on  the  pafTage 
"  home  ;  the  other  was  on  the,  recovery  when  the  vefiel 
"  came  into  this  port. 

"  There  was  not,  nor  had  not  been  for  a  long  time 
*5  before,  any  fever  in  this  town.  Two  or  three  days 
;c  after,  I  heard  that  one  or  two  men,  who  were  labourers 
"  (and  probably  had  been  on  board,  as  they  lived  nigh 
4  where  the  vefiel  lay  at  the  wharf)  died  fuddenly  with. 
'*  fever,  but  am  uncertain  whether  with  yellow  fever,  as 
"  I  never  law  them.  The  firft  of  Auguft,  the  owner, 
"  whole  houfe  was  about  four  or  five  rods  diftant  from 
'  the  veflel,-  had  a  child  of  four  or  five  years  of  age  ta- 
"  ken  lick  ;  the  next  day  I  vifited  it,  and  two  days  af- 
"  ter  he  died.  The  fymptoms  appeared  like  a  cholera 
"  morbus^ — fick  ftomach,  and  frequent  puking  of  black 

S  s  s  «  bile, 


495  A    TREATISE    ON 

"  bile.  The  day  before  he  died  a  brother  of  his,  fifteen 
"  years  old,  was  taken  ill,  and  had  much  the  fame  fymp- 
"  toms,  only  greater  inflammation  and  diftrefs.  He  was 
"  blooded  freely,  took  calomel,  bark,  &c.  He  diecj 
"  five  days  after  hefickened.  Between  the  8th  and  the 
"  20th  of  Auguft,  four  or  five  of  the  other  children  and 
"  fervants  were  taken  with  the  fame  fymptoms,  and  re-. 
"  covered.  On  the  fixteenth  day,  a  daughter*  feventeen 
C£  years  of  age,  was  taken  down  with  the  fame  difeafe  5 
;c  (he  was  treated  in  the  fame  manner!  with  bleeding^ 
"  mercury,  warm  bath,  bark,  &c.  and  died  on  the  pth 
u  day.  This  patient  had  a  great  difcharge  of  blood 
"  from  her  mouth  and  gums  far  three  days  before  (he 
"  died.  One  or  two  more  of  the  family  had  it  after^ 
"  wards,  and  recovered.  All  thefe  patients  took  thein-i 
"  foclion,  I  believe,  about  the  fame  time/  Many  others 
"  in  that  neighbourhood  had  the  fever  during  this 
"  time,  about  one  half  of  whom  died  :  out  of  forty-fix 
"  patients  I  loft  fifteen.  If  I  could  procure  a  forenefs  of 
"  the  fauces,  by  administering  calomel  in  fmall  dofess 
"  and  rubbing  it  in  the  gums,  or  by  frictions  on  the  legs 
"  and  arms  with  mercurial  ointment,  the  third  or  fourth 
"  day,  I  was  fure  of  their  recovery* 

"  How  many  died  of  this  difeafe  in  the  whole,  I  have 
"  forgotten  j  as,  through  fatigue,  and  debility  of  body 
"  and  mind,  I  kept  no  notes  ;  I  think  rather  more  than 
"  half  of  thofe  who  had  it.  The  fever  agreed  in  every 
<c  fymptom,  almoft,with  that  defcribed  by  Dr.  Rulhand 
"  others.  The  contagion  did  not  appear  to  be  propa- 
"  gated,  as  the  largeft  number  who  had  the  difeafe  were 
"  (eized  in  the  month  of  Auguft,  and  lived  in  the  ftreets 
"  only  which  communicated  with  the  wharf  where  the 
*'  veffel  lay,  and  the  beach  where  (lie  was  graved.  Thefe 
"  ftreets  are  in  the  higheft  part  of  the  town,  and  always 
*e  efteemed  the  moft  healthy,  and  as  free  of  putrid  flab-? 
"  ftances  as  any  in  it.  In  the  months  of  September  and 
"  October  the  fever  was  followed  by  dyfentery,  and 
"  fpread  through  almoft  every  part  of  the  town  and  its 
"  environs.  There  has  been  no  cafe  of  fever  or  ciyfen- 
fmce  Jaft  fall  ;  this  place,  during  th^e  winter,  and 

<c  fumnier 


Y£LLOW  FEVER, 

e*  fummer  thus  far,  has  been  uncommonly  healthy ;  and 
<c  it  appears  likely  to  continue  fo,  if  the  committee  of 
"  health  fhould  not  be  remifs  in  their  duty.  Thus> 
<c  without  any  comments,  I  have  endeavoured  to  give 
cc  you  a  ihort  hiftory  of  the  peftilential  fever,  •  as  it  ap- 
"  peared  here  laft  fummer.  The  ideas,  you  may  com- 
"  municate  to  the  author  of  the  book  intended  to  be 
"  published." 

The  following  letter  from  Dr.  Warren,  which  he 
obligingly  fent  to  two  phyficians-in  Salem,  gives  an  ac- 
curate account  of  the  diftemper  which  prevailed  in  Bof- 
ton  laft  year-: 

"  I  mould  immediately  have  anfwered  your  favour  of 
"  laft  month,  but  for  a  wifll  to  give  you  as  complete  an 
<e  account  of  the  caufes  and  mortality  of  the  late  epi* 
c;  demic  as  could  be  colle&ed. 

"  There  were  a  number  of  fufpe&ed  caufes,  which, 
"  though  concealed  during  the  prevalence  of  the  difeafe, 
"  it  was  hoped  would  be  developed  after  the  agitation  of 
"  the  public  mind  had  entirely  fubfided  ;  and  I  was  in  ex- 
"  pe&ation  that  fome  regular  returns  would  have  been 
c<  made  of  the  numbers  who  had  paffed  through  the  dif- 
*c  eafe,  and  of  thofe  who  had  died  with  it,  fo  that  fome 
*4  eftimate  might  be  formed  of  its  malignity  and  morta- 
*'  lity  3  but  fuch  returns  have  not  yet  been  made,  and  it 
"  is  therefore  impoffible  to  obtain  any  fatisfa&ory  evi- 
"  dence  on  thofe  heads.  I  fuppofe  the  number  of 
"  deaths  to  have  been  rather  fhort  of  two  hundred^ 
*c  but  this  is  only  a  rude  guefs,  and  fhould  not  be 
"  relied  on  in  forming  any  confequential  deduftions 
<fc  on  the  fubjeft.  I  (hall,  however,  now  offer  fuch  an 
"  account  of  the  diforder  as  my  prefent  materials  have 
*'  enabled  me  to  prepare. 

"  The  firft  unequivocal  appearance  of  the  malignant 
*c  fever,  in  the  town  of  Bofton,  was  on  the  loth  of  July 
"  1798  (though  one  family  had  been  attacked  with  a 
"  fever,  attended  with  unufual  fymptoms,  as  early  as  the 
tc  middle  of  June  ;  but,  as  no  other  inftances  occurred 
t{  for  fo  long  a  time,  of  an  alarming  nature,  fome  doubts 
"  may  perhaps  bejuftly  entertained  of  the  identity  of  the 

"  affedion.) 


A    TREATISE    ON 

"  affection.)     Three  or  four  cafes  only,  I  believe,  hap* 

"  pened  between  this  and  the  latter  end  of  the  month. 

"  The  two  firft  of  thefe  were  young  men  employed  in 

"  (lores    directly  oppofite  to  each    other,  on    Green's 

"  wharf,  near  the  Town-dock.     A  few  days  after,  three 

"  or  four  perfons  were  feized  with  the  fame  complaint, 

"  whilft  following  their  refpective  occupation  in   Mar- 

cs  ket  fquare,  on  the  eaft  and  fouth  (ides  of  Faneuil  Hall, 

"  or  the  Market-houfe.       In    the  beginning   of    the 

"  month  of  Auguft  feveral  perfons  were  taken  fick  in 

"  the  fame  neighbourhood,  chiefly  young  men  between 

"  1 6  and  24  years  of  age,  whilft  employed  in  (lores  and 

"  counting  houfes  there  fituated.     The  (lores   in   Mer- 

"  chant's   row,   extending  from  the  Market  to  State- 

<c  ftreet,   were  more  efpecially  vifited  with   the  difeafe, 

"  and,  in  the  courfe  of  the  fame  month,  a  family  at  the 

"  bottom  of  State-ftreet,  and  feveral  perfons  at   Oliver's 

*'  dock,  were  taken  fick.    At  this  place  a  kind  of  bafon 

"  is  formed  between  a  point  of  the  town  project  ing  from 

"  Fort  hill,  and  the  Long  wharf,  which  is  conftantly  re- 

"  ceiving  the  offals  of  fifh,  and  other  animal  fubftances, 

<;  which  from  its  fituation  could  not  be  wafhed  off  by 

"  the  waters  contained  in  it.     This  fpot  is  remarkable 

*c  for  having  been  the  refidence  of  mod  of  the  perfons 

"  firft  attacked  with  the  bilious  remittent  fever  of  1796. 

ic  To  the  latter  end  of  this  month  the  number  of  fick 

*\  continued  to  be  increasing ;  but  the  attacks  were  prin- 

<c  cipally  confined  to  the  above-mentioned  quarters,  till 

"  at  length  the  difeafe  appeared  on  the  fouth   fide  of 

"  Fort  hill,  at    fome  diftance  to  the  fouthward  of  Oli- 

"  ver's  dock,  leaping,  as  it  were?  over  the  fummit  of  the 

"  hill,  without   lighting  upon  the  inhabitants  on  the 

"  north  of  that  eminence.     The  fatality  of  the  difeafe 

"  was  here  probably  greater  than  in  any  part  of  the  town 

*'  of  equal  population  ;  and  it  was  nearly  the  laft  place 

"  in  which  it  difappeared.     Very  few  families  who  re- 

ct  maincd  in  their  own  houfes  upon  the  hill  efcaped  its 

"  attack ;  and  the  progrefs  of  the  difeafe,  in  all  the  pla- 

"  ces  above   mentioned,    feemed   to  have  been  arrefted 

**  only  by  means  of  the  evacuation  of  the  buildings  by 

u  the 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER.  501 

w  the  people  who  inhabited  them.  In  the  latter  end  of 
"  Auguft,  and  through  the  month  of  September,  many 
"  perfons  were  taken  fick  in  Fore-ftreet,  which  runs 
"  northerly  from  Market  or  Dock  fquare,  along  the 
"  heads  of  the  wharves,  on  the  eaftern  fide  of  the  town. 

"  Through  the  whole  period  of  the  ficknefs  fcarcely  a 
"  perfon  was  taken  ill  who  had  not  refided,  or  been  in 
**  daily  employment,  in  the  vicinity  of  thefe  places.  The 
"  fubjects  of  the  difeafe  were  generally  natives  of  the  town, 
"  chiefly  in  the  prime  of  life,  and  in  the  vigour  of  health. 
"  I  recollect  no  inftance  of  any  French  inhabitants  be* 
"  ing  affailed  by  it,  and  have  heard  of  only  one  or  two 
"  inftances  of  the  blacks  being  affected  with  it. 

"  That  the  fever  was  in  a  degree  contagious,  I  cannot 
"  entertain  a  doubt  5  but  that  it  was  not  fo  in  a  very 
"  high  degree,  I  am  as  fully  perfuaded,  from  the  number 
*•*  of  cafes  in  which  there  was  reafon  to  believe  it  could 
"  not  have  been  taken  .in  that  way.  In  moft  in- 
<c  ftances,  where  contagion  might  have  been  fufpedled, 
"  the  fubjects  were  fo  fituated  that  they  might  have  re- 
*'  ceived  it  from  the  fame  fource  as  thofe  with  whom  they 
"  had  communicated.  I  cannot  learn  that  any  evidence 
"  has  been  furnifhed  of  infection  from  the  fick  who  had 
"  been  removed  into  the  country,  though  there  were 
"  many  inftances  of  fuch  removals,  under  the  moft  ma- 
'*  lignant  forms  which  it  affumed. 

"  The  fever  was  generally  ufhered  in  by  a  chill,  but  I 
<{  think  by  no  means  equal  to  that  which  commonly 
"  precedes  fevers  of  the  ardent  kind,  nor  in  proportion 
<f  to  the  violence  of  its  fubfequent  periods.  In  a  fhort 
"  time  the  rigors  were  fucceeded  by  exceffive  heat  ;  the 
"  pulfe,  which  had  been  fmall  and  contradled,  became 
"  hard  and  full ;  the  refpiration  laborious  from  violent 
"  opprefiion  at  the  firobiculus  cordis  ;  the  tongue  af- 
€-  iu  ned  a  whitiQi  caft  ;  the  eyes  became  highly  infla- 
"  med,  while  the  pains  in  the  head,  back,  and  legs,  were 
fi  intolerably  fevere.  To  thefe  fymptoms  fucceeded 
<c  nauf?a,  and  vomiting  fometimes  of  a  highly  bilious 
*'  matter,  feldom  attended  with  diarrhoea,  but  often 
**  with  a  burning  at  the  ftomach,  tendernefs  of  the  ab* 

*c  domens 


A    TREATISE  CM 

cc  domen,  parcity  of  urine  ;  and,  in  one  inftance,  a  dy* 
"  furia,  with  a  great  proportion  of  blood  at  each  evacu- 
"  ation  of  that  fluid. 

"  Thefe  appearances  ufually  continued  about  4$ 
cc  hours,  after  which  they  often  fuddenly  gave  place  to  a 
"  very  different  train  of  fymptoms.  The  pulfe  funk 
"  aftonifhingly,  and  became  intermittent  $  the  heat  and 
"  pains  entirely  fubfided  ;  and  the  patient  fuppofed 
"  himfelf  to  be  out  of  danger.  From  a  perfect  poffeflion 
"  of  all  his  intellectual  faculties,  with  a  ferenity  of  mind, 
"  which  in  no  other  difeafe,  I  believe^  is  fo  generally  ob- 
"  ferved  to  accompany  its  lad  ftages,  on  or  about  the  5th 
"  day  from  the  acceffion  of  the  fever*  he  fell  into  a  ftate 
'*  of  infenfibility,  and  thence  funk  gently  into  the  arms 
*'  of  death.  In  others  this  change  was  lefs  rapid  ;  the 
**  pulfe  became  gradually  fmaller,  the  diftreffing  fymp* 
"  toms  ilowly  abated,  a  coldnefs  of  the  extremities  took 
"  place,  and  continued  for  feveral  days  before  death,  ac- 
<c  companied  with  clammy  fvveats,  often  without  any 
"  perceptible  pulfe  in  the  wrifts,  for  feveral  hours  before 
"  the  fatal  termination.  The  tongue  feldom  became 
cc  much  coatedj  to  the  laft.  Delirium  was  by  no  means 
<c  generally  attendant  ;  and  a  yellownefs  of  the  ikin  was 
et  far  from  being  univerfal ;  fometimes,  however,  this 
"  appearance  was  obferved  within  the  three  firft  days ; 
"  often  on  the  fourth  and  fifth  ;  and  I  was  induced  to 
€i  coniider  it  as  an  accident,  rather  than  a  conftituenfe 
"  character  of  the  difeafe. 

"  The  black  vomit,  as  it  has  been  ufually  called, 
66  though  in  my  opinion  by  no  means  to  be  coniidered  ad 
"  a  pathognomic  fign  of  the  difeafe  (as  I  have  frequently 
*'  feen  it  take  place  in  other  acute  fevers,  efpecially  the 
"  puerperal)  was  very  frequently  attendant  on  the  laft  fta- 
'•'  ges  of  the  diforder;  very  few  recovered  after  this  cir- 
"  cumftancehad  taken  place^  in  one  perfon, however,  who 
6<  had  it  in  the  moft  alarniing  form,  together  with  an  in* 
44  termjtteut  pulfe,  coldnefs  of  the  extremities,  fmgultus, 
"•  and  every  ufual  mark  of  immediate  diffolution,  a  moil 
"  unexpected  recovery  happily  difappointed  the  pofitivc 
"  prognoftic'sof  his  phyficians*  As  the  cure  advanced,  th« 

*'  fkin 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER,  503 


*'  ikin  in  this  inftance  became  extremely  yellow,  and 
"  tinued  fo  for  many  weeks  after  the  fever  had  fubiided  ; 
"  the  biliary  duels  having  been  completely  obftruded,  and 
*'  confequently  the  alvine  evacuations  of  a  clayey  colour, 
"  and  with  much  difficulty  procured.  Frequent  repeti- 
"  tions  of  rhubarb  and  calomel  in  large  dofes,  the  conti- 
"  nuance  of  the  mercurial  medicine  in  fmall  dofes,  fo  as 
"  to  keep  up  a  continual  ptyalifm,  and  a  laxative  diet, 
*c  reftored  him  to  perfect  health. 

"  For  the  difcoveries  which  were  made  on  difle6ting 
"  the  bodies  of  fome  of  thofe  who  died  with  the  difeafe, 
"  I  beg  leave  to  refer  you  to  a  publication  m  the  Bofton 
"  Centinel,  made  during  the  prevalence  of  the  diforder 
"  in  this  place,  and  fubfcribed  by  Dr.  Ifaac  Rand,  fen. 
5<  Prefident  of  the  M-  Medical  Society,  and  myfelf/* 
(For  thefe  difcoveries  fee  the  table,  facing  p.  434. 

"  We  had  heretofore  treated  our  patients  agreeably 
"  to  the  method  pracYifed  at  Philadelphia  in  1793,  with 
"  bleeding  in  moft  inftances,  and  a&ive  purges  of  jalap 
"  and  calomel,  or  Rochelle  falts.  The  difeafed  ftate  of 
<s  the  liver,  the  known  effects  of  mercury  in  hepatitis, 
*e  and  the  recolledtion  of  the  fuggeftions  contained  in. 
<c  Dr.  Rum's  publication  on  the  yellow  fever,  together 
*c  with  thofe  of  feveral  other  celebrated  writers  on  the 
"  fame  fubjeft,  induced  us  to  enter  immediately  on  the 
*'  ufe  of  calomel  in  fmall  dofes,  as  recommended  in  our 
"  paper  above  referred  to. 

"  In  my  own  pradice  I  now  ufually  commenced  the 
4C  treatment  by  bleeding  from  ten  to  fixteen  ounces,  and 
<4  followed  it  by  a  dofe  of  between  ten  and  fifteen  grains 
"  of  calomel  with  between  twenty  and  twenty-five 
6C  grains  of  jalap,  or  an  ounce  of  Rochelle  falts,  or  more, 
"  according  to  the  conftitution.  Immediately  after  the 
"  operation  of  thefe  medicines  I  began  with  the  ufe  of 
<s  calomel  in  fmall  dofes,  in  pills  of  a  grain,  every  hour, 
"  aqd  fometimes  of  3  grains  every  two  hours.  Within 
^  the  fir  ft  twenty-four  hours,  but  fcarcely  ever  after,  I 
*'  found  occafion  frequently  to  repeat  the  bleeding,  and 
^  it  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  in  fcarcely  a  fmgle  inftance 
*'  was  this  operation  performed  without  almoft  inftanta- 


5o4  A    TREATISE    ON 

"  neous  relief;  although  in  moft  cafes,  a  few  hours  af- 
"  ter,  there  was  a  recurrence  of  the  fymptoms.  The 
<c  blood  for  the  moft  part  was  dark.  In  three  cafes  there 
*c  was  no  feparation  of  ferum  from  the  coagulated  mafs 
"  at  the  end  of  forty-eight  hours.  In  two  of  thele  (and 
"  they  were  the  only  cafes  in  which  I  obferved  it)  a  firm 
"•  buff  was  formed  on  its  furfacej  and  all  three  died  of 
"  the  difeafe. 

"  The  calomel  was  often  continued  through  the  whole 
"  courfe  of  the  fever  ;  and  ptyalifm  was  ufuaily  brought 
*'  on  within  three  or  four  days  :  though  fometimes  up- 
*c  wards  of  200  grains  were  given,  at  the  rate  of  a  grain 
"  every  hour,  without  any  fpeciflc  effect  on  the  faiivary 
"  glands.  In  proportion  as  the  forenefs  of  the  mouth  ad- 
<c  vanced,  the  fymptoms  univerfally  gave  way  ;  and  in 
"  every  patient,  two  only  excepted,  this  effect  of  the  re- 
<f  medy  was  a  fure  pledge  of  recovery.  In  this  exception 
**  were  comprehended  two  perfons  of  the  fame  family,  a 
'*  father  and  daughter,  both  of  whom  had  furviveo  the 
"  I4th  day  of  tae  difeafe,  had  copious  hemorrhages  from 
<c  the  mouth  (a  circumftance  which  alfo  attended  on  ma- 
<c  ny  who  recovered)  and  died  in  a  ftate  of  apparent  pu- 
"  t refaction. 

"  The  purgative  medicines  were  generally  repeated 
M  every  fecond  day  j  or  an  enema  of  water  gruel  was  ad- 
"  miniftered  occasionally,  if  the  bowels  were  conftipa- 
"  ted  ;  but  if  otherwife,  and  the  calomel  paffed  off  by 
'*  thofe  emunctories,  opium  was  combined  with  it  in 
*'  fufficient  quantities  to  reftrain  the  difcharge.  The 
"  evacuations  which  took  place  from  the  inteflines,  dur- 
<c  ing  the  ufe  of  the  mercury,  were  almoft  univerfally  of 
"  a  remarkably  dark  colour,  generally  approaching  to  a 
*'  deep  green,  but  by  no  means  remarkably  foetid. 
"  When  Ipontaneous,  they  were  often  obferved  to  be  of 
"  the  colour  and  confiftence  of  water  gruel. 

"  In  cafes  of  very  laborious  refpiration,  which  was  fre- 
<f  quently  in  an  extreme  degree  diftreffing,  efpecially  af- 
^  ter  the  firft  36  or  48  hours  had  elapfed,  blifters,  ap- 
"  plied  either  to  the  cheft  or  extremities,  had  a  favoura- 
<*  ble  effect  i  on  the  latter,  they  were  moft  ufeful  in  the 

"  advanced 


<c 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER.  505 

advanced  ftages  of  the  difeafe,  by  exciting  to  a&ion 
the  debilitated  veflels,  and  by  reftoring  circulation  and 
warmth  to  the  parts.  In  the  fame  intention,  wine, 
fnake-root,  and  the  bark,  were  fometimes  ufed  with 
advantage. 

"  The  diet  was  generally  of  the  lighted  and  moft  cool- 
Ing  nature  ;  barley-water,  apple-water,  and  fpruce- 
beer,  were  generally  both  grateful  and  falutary.  The 
warm  bath  was  often  exhibited  with  apparent  fuccefs, 
efpecially  in  the  beginning  of  the  difeafe,  and  when  a 
copious  fweat  had  been  induced  by  it.  The  cold  bath 
was  alfo  reforted  to  by  fome  refpedtable  practitioners, 
and  perhaps,  under  fome  circumftances,  with  good  ef- 
fe&s  ;  but  I  have  no  reafon  to  think  it  was  generally 
advantageous. 

"  Upon  the  whole,  I  believe  that  the  moft  efficacious 
remedy,  and  the  only  one  to  be  relied  on,  is  mercury. 
"  It  is  certain  that,  as  far  as  my  obfervation  has  extend- 
<c  ed,  under  no  other  method  of  treatment  did  fo  many 
"  recover  ;  and  there  were  but  few  inftances  of  a  fatal 
"  termination,  when  it  had  been  adminiftered  from  the 
"  commencement  of  the  fever. 

"  Various  have  been  the  caufes  affigned  to this  difeafe. 
"  That  its  origin  wasdomeftic,  I  have  not  a  (ingle  doubt, 
u  No  inftance  of  the  arrival  of  any  veflel  from  the  warm- 
"  er  latitudes,  with  this  ficknefs  on  board,  has  been  dif- 
"  covered  ;  and  it  is  believed  that  the  local  caufes  are 
<c  fufficiently  numerous  to  account  for  its  exiftence.     At 
"  moft  of  the  places,  where  its  ravages  have  been  made, 
ft  very  large  quantities  of  putrid  fubfrances  had  been  for 
"  fome  time  accumulating.     The  offals  from   the  fifh 
"  market,  as  well  as  damaged  fre(h  and  falted  fldi  to  an 
ce  immerife  amount,  had  been  thrown  into  the  dock.     A 
:<  very  great  number  of  raw  hides  had  been  imported, 
*c  and  ftored  in  places  contiguous  to  thofe  in  which  bufi- 
ft  nefs  was   constantly  going  on.     The   influence  of  a 
l<  continued  heat  through  the  fummer,  to  a  degree  fcarce- 
;<  ly  before  known  in  this  country,  had  rendered  thefe 
"  articles  highly  putrid  ;    and  from  the  fame  caufe  fe- 
ft  verai  articles  of  proyifion,  fijch  as  barrelled  beef,  &c. 

T  1 1  "  which 


A    TREATISE    ON 

"  which  had  been  prepared  for  exportation,  but,  by  rea- 
*'  fon  of  the  reflraints  laid  on  our  commerce,  retained  in 
*'  (tore,  had  become  tainted.  The  effects  of  thefe  were 
'*  in  ibme  inftances  inconteftibly  evinced  ;  three  lads, 
"  who  had  been  employed  in  repacking  be^f,  were  at 
"  about  the  fame  time  feized  with  thedifeafe  in  its  mod 
"  fatal  form  ;  and  a  perfon,  who  had  purchafed  fome  of 
tf<  the  hides  at  a  low  price,  immediately  after  their  remo- 
"  val  fell  a  facrifice  to  his  folly. 

"  Two  or  three  thoufand  of  the  inhabitants  removed 
"  into  the  country,  and  began  to  return  about  the  mid- 
*6  die  of  October,  when  the  decline  of  the  difeafe  jufli- 
"  fied  the  meafure."* 

SECTION 

*  The  following  fa<3s»  in  confirmation  of  the  importation  of  the  yellow 
fever»  were  communicated  in  a  letter  from  an  eminent  pra&itioner  in  New 
Haven  to  a  gentleman  of  the  fame  profeflion  in  this  town.  They  came  to  hand 
too  late  to  be  inferted  otherwife  than  in  a  note,  the  meet  being  already  pre- 
pared for  prei's : 

A  child  was  reported  to  have  died  of  worms,  and  the  parents  were  indulged 
in  the  common  ceremonies  of  burial :  but  the  truth  wasi  that  the  difeafe  had 
been  the  black  vomit.  The  confequence  was,  a  very  extenfive  fpread  of  the 
contagion.  In  lefs  than  a  week  fix  out  of  eight  of  the  bearers  were  taken 
with  th«  fever,  and  thefe  were  young  perfons  from  different  parts  of  the  towiv 
«*  As  to  the  fuppofitions  (fays  the  gentleman)  with  refpecl  to  local  caufes  ort- 
«*  ginating  the  difeafe,  I  conceive  there  is  no  occafion  to  feek  for  any  other 
•«  than  what  was  contained  in  the  cheft  (p.  444)  which  was  a  blanket  and 
•*  clothing  taken  off  the  corpfe  of  one  who  had  died  of  the  fever  in  the  Weft 
««  Indies,  and  without  the  leaft  formality  of  cleanfmg  put  down  into  a  clofe 
•'  cheft,  and  brought  to  New  Haven,  and  lodged  in  Auftin's  ftore.  Now  it 
•«  appears  to  me  (thefe  facts,  well  afcertained)  as  idle  to  inquire  after  other 
««  caufes,  as  it  would,  fuppofe  it  were  the  infection  of  the  fmall  pox  brought 
««  in  a  cheft,  and  a  number  of  perfons  who  had  infpeclcd  the  cheft  to  be  taken 
<*  down  with  it.  Would»  in  fuch  a  cafe,  mankind  have  racked  their  invea- 

««  tions  to  have  investigated  other  inducing  caufes  ?  Surely  not As  to 

««  local  putrefying  f  ubftances,  there  was  nothing  but  what  has  been  common 
<«  to  the  place,  where  the  fever  made  its  firft  appearance,  for  many  years  in  dry 
«i  fummers. 

««  I  might  revert  to  the  introdudlion  of  the  fever  by  importation  at  Chatham 
•«  on  Connecticut  river ;  at  Providence,  Rhode  liland  ;  in  which  the  importa-, 
«« tion  was  as  evident  as  at  New  Haven.  In  fhort,  there  is  fcarcely  a  place  on 
«•  the  continent,  where  this  fever  has  made  its  appearance,  but  what  it  may 
•«  be  traced  to  ap  imported  origin.  There  have  been  but  two  or  three  excep- 
•«  tions  which  I  have  heard  of." 

The  following  particulars  relative  to  the  difeafe  at  Portfmouth  may  like- 
wife  be  deemed  authentic,  as  communicated  by  a  refpeclable  gemlemaq 
(though  not  of  the  medical  profeffion)  in  that  place:  ««  Moft  men  of  jtidg- 
«<  ment  and  information  on  the  fubjed  fuppofe  it  was  imported  laft  year  in 
»«  a  (hip  of  Mr.  Sheafe,  which  arrived  from  Martiflico  about  the  aoth  of  July, 
*«  One  man  had  died  on  board  this  fhip  in  the  Weft  Indies  :  all  the  reft  arrived 
f  *  in  health  ;  but  the  difordej:  made  its  appearance  in  a  few  days  afterwards. 
«*  Mr.  Sheafe  loft  three  of  his  his  own  family.  He  lived  within  a  ftone'§ 
w  throvy  of  the  wharf  where  his  fhip  Jay,  and  the  fever  fpread  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood. 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER.  507 

SECTION    III. 

Methods  of  Prevention  and  Cure. 

IN  the  yellow  fever,  as  in  the  plague,  where  an  attack 
is  frequenly  made  with  fuch  violence  as  to  bring  on 
death  in  twenty-four  hours,  or  even  a  ftill  fhorter  time, 
it  is  plain  that  much  more  dependence  muft  be  placed  on 

prevention 

««  bourhood.  Mr.  Plummer,  in  the  next  houfe  to  Mr.  Sheafe's,  died  about  th6 
««  loth  of  Auguft  ;  Mifs  Parker,  in  the  fame  houfe,  four  days  afterwards  ;  and 
««  Mifs  Smith,  who  had  lived  nearly  oppofite,  removed  to  Berwick,  and  was 
*«  there  feized  and  died  about  the  lame  time.  It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that 
««  this  was  always  thought  the  moft  healthy  part  of  th«  the  town." 

As  a  contraft  to  thefe  evidences,  we  fubjoin  the  following  epitome  of  part  of 
Dr.  Rum's  addrefs  to  the  citizens  of  Philadelphia  on  the  origin  of  the  yellow 
fever,  &c.*  In  this  addrefs,  the  Doclor  confiders  it  as  indifputable  that  the 
difeafe  is,  in  all  countries,  the  offspring  of  putrid  vegetable  and  animal  exha- 
lations ;  but  it  prevails  only  in  hot  climates  and  in  hot  fea Ions.  In  Phila- 
delphia it  arifes,  i.  From  the  docks  ;  and  hence,  in  New  York,  it  has  got  the 
name  of  the  dock  fever.  2.  From  the  foul  air  of  (hips.  3.  From  the  com- 
mon fewers.  4.  From  the  gutters.  5.  From  dirty  cellars  and  yards.  6.  Pri- 
vies. 7.  Putrefying  mailes  of  matter  lying  in  the  neighbouring  part  of  the 
city.  8.  Impure  pump  water. 

Thedifeaie  is  eonfidered  by  the  Doflor  as  an  higher  degree  of  biliofcs  fever. 
He  anfwers  the  objedion  by  Dr.  Chifholm  (fee  p.  467.)  where  he  ipeaks  of 
the  fever  not  being  produced  in  1778,  «« when  it  was  left  in  a  more  filthy  ftate 
fey  the  Britifh  army  than  it  has  been  at  any  timefince."  To  this  he  anfwers 
that  for  the  production  of  the  difeafe  three  things  are  necefiary.  i.  Putrid 
exhalations.  2.  An  inflammatory  conftitution  of  the  atmofphere,  and.  3.  Art 
exciting  caufe,  fuch  as  great  heat,  cold,  fatigue,  or  intemperance.  The  con- 
ftitution of  the  atmofphere,  however,  he  looks  upon  to  be  the  principal  caufe  5 
as  without  this  conftitution  mild  difeafes  would  be  produced,  but  along  with 
it  they  become  very  malignant.  "  The  peftilemial  conftitution  of  the  air 
•«  in  the  United  States  began  in  1791.  It  prevailed  in  Charlefton  in  17921, 
"  and  it  has  been  epidemic  in  one  or  more  of  the  cities  or  country  towns  of  the 
«•  United  States  every  year  fmce.  ...  It  has  not  been  confined  to  the  fea- 
««  ports.  It  has  prevailed  fiace  the  year  1793  in  many  of  the  villages  of  New 
««  Englandi  and  of  the  fouthern  ftates.  On  the  Genefee  river  it  has  become 
"  fo  prevalent  as  to  acquire  the  name  of  the  Genefee  fever.  The  bilious  fevers 
«  which  prevailed  in  all  the  above  places  before  the  year  1793  were  of  a  mild 
«<  nature,  and  feldom  mortal.  They  have  lately  di ("appeared*  or  are  much  di~ 
«»  minimecl  ;  and  have  been  fucceeded  by  a  fever  which  frequently  terminates 
«« in  death  in  five  days,  with  a  yellow  fliin  and  black  vomiting."  Thefe 
circumftances  are  fupported  by  undeniable  teftimony. 

In  ani'werto  thequeftion»  ««  Can  the  yellow  fever  be  imported  ?"  Our  author 

anfwers  as  follows  :    «  I  once  thought  it  might;  but  the  foregoing  fadts  au- 

thorife  me  to  atlett,  that  it  cannot,  fo  as  to  become  epidemic  in  any  city  or 

«  country.     There  are  but  two  authorities  on  which  the  belief  nf  this  difeafe 

«  being  imported  refts.     Thefe  are  Dr.  Lining's  and   Dr.  Lind's.     The  for- 

»  met  fays  it  was  imported  into  Charleston  in  1732,  1739,  1745  and  1748.    The 

«  latter  lays  it  was  conveyed  into  Philadelphia,  where  it  afterwards  became 

•  epidemic,  by  means  of  the  clothes  of  a  young  man  who  died  in   Barbadoes. 

in  No  circumftances  of  fhips  or  names  are  mentioned  with  thefe  afl'ertions  to 

*s  entitle  them  to  credit,  and  from  the  facility  with  which  vague  reports  of 

*  Printfft  In  i  739.  tfc« 


5o$  A   TREAtlSE    ON 

prevention  than  the  efforts  of  the  mod  fkilful  phyficiatl 
after  the  difeafe  has  once  begun  j    for,  in  fuch  violent  at- 
tacks, medicines,  thoiigh  ever  fo  powerful,  have  not  time 
to  act.     In  countries  therefore  where  this  terrible  difeafe 
exifls,  the  firft  confideration  neceffary  for  every  individual 
is,  whether  he  is  one  of  thofe  likely  to  be  attacked  by  it. 
Now,  from  the  general  teftimony  of  thofe  who  have  feen 
this  fever,  it  appears  that  fuch  as  are  newly  arrived,  the 
young,  and  in  other  refpecls  the  healthy  and  ftrong,  the 
laborious,  and  the  intemperate*  are  moft  liable  to  be  at- 
tacked.    Dr.  Naffy  of  Philadelphia  feems  a/one  to  afford 
an  exception  to  the  general  teftimony.     Speaking  of  the 
caufe  of  epidemics  j  after  having  afcribed  them  to  fome 
conftitution  of  the  atmofphere,  he  fays,   "  If  the  air  is 
"  not  infected,  difeafes  cannot  be  epidemic;  and  this  is 
"  fo,  indeed,  though  it  only  attacks  the  natives.      What 
"  can  be  the  caufe  of  that  corruption  of  the  air  ?      For 
"  what  reafon  are  the  natives,  and  thofe  inured  to  the 
"  clinaate  of  Philadelphia,  a&»*  infected  with  the  prevail- 
"  ing  difeafe,   while  foreigners  efcape  it  ?"      Dr.  Chif- 
holm  particularly  points  out  thofe  who,  in  1793,  were 
moft  liable  to  the  Boullam  fever.    Thefe  were,  u  i.  Sai» 
"  lors  *    more  efpecially  the  robuft  and  young  ;   thofe 
"  lead  accuftomed  to  the  climate  -,  and  thofe  moft  given 

"  to 

"  the  foreign  origih  of  this  difeafe  have  been  admitted  and  propagated  by  phy* 
«'  ficians  in  other  countries,  there  is  reafon  to  believe  the  afiertions  of  thofe 
«'  two  phyficians  are  altogether  without  foundation.  The  College  of  Phyfi- 
««  cians  of  Philadelphia,  after  two  weeks  inveftigation,:  were  unable  to  difcover 
«»  any  ihips,  clothes,  or  fick  perfon,  that  could  have  introduced  the  difeafe  in- 
"  to  Philadelphia  in  the  year  1793^  The  Academy  of  Medicine  have  clearly 
««  proved,  by  many  documents,  that  the  difeafe  was  not  imported  in  the  years 
»•  1797  and  1798.  The  origin  of  a  few  cafes,  reported  by  Dr.  Griffitts  and 
<4  other  members  of  the  College  of  Phyficians,  which  have  lately  appeared  in 
«'  our  city,  has  in  vain  been  fought  for  from  a  prize  floop  or  the  Ganges.  Two 
«•  affidavits  of  Meftieurs  Hill  and  Ingerfol  prove  that  fhe  had  been  healthy  in 
«  the  Weft  indies,  and  that  no  perfon  had  been  lick  on  board  of  her  during 
««  her  voyage,  nor  after  her  arrival  in  our  port.  Equally  unfuccefsful  have 
«5  been  the  attemps  to  derive  thofe  cafes  from  beds  and  blankets  infedled  by 
'«  the  fever  of  lad  year.  In  Bofton,  Connecticut,  New  York,  Baltimore,  Nor- 
"  folk  and  Charleston,  both  phyficians  and  citizens  have  long  ago  rejected  the 
<c  opinion  of  the  importation  of  the  fever.  Some  phyficians  fuppofe  it  pofljble 
««  for  the  contagion  of  this  fever  to  adhere  to  the  timbers  of  (hips  that  have 
««  failed  from  Weft  India  ports,  and  that  it  may  be  propagated  from  them  to  a 
«'  whole  neighbourhood,  although  houfes.and  even  ftreets,  interpofe  between 
«•  them.  This  opinion  is  too  abfurd  to  ftand  in  heed  of  refutation.  Indeed 
•  «  every  thing  that  relates  to  the  importation  of  this  lever  is  contrary  to  reafon 
««  and  fadts — It  is  an  error,  fubftituted  in  the  room  of  a  belief  that  all  peftileu* 
*•  tial  difeafes  were  derived  from  the  planets." 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER.  509 

w  to  drink  new  rum.  2.  Soldiers ;  more  efpecially 
"  recruits  from  Europe  ;  and  the  mod  intemperate. 
<c  3.  White  males  in  general  lately  arrived ;  more  efpecial- 
€(  ly  young  men  from  Europe.  4.  All  other  white  males; 
"  more  efpecially  the  lower  clalTes ;  and  of  them  the 
"  moft  intemperate ;  thofe  debilitated  by  recent  ficknefs. 
"  5.  White,  females,  more  efpecially  thofe  conneft- 
"  ed  with  the  (hipping ;  and  thofe  lately  from  Europe. 
"  6.  People  of  colour,  from  Muftees  to  Cabres.  7.  Ne* 
*c  gro  men ;  more  efpecially  failors  and  porters.  8.  Ne- 
"  gro  women ;  more  efpecially  haufe  wenches.  9.  Chil- 
"  dren  ;  more  efpecially  thofe  of  colour."  It  is  cer- 
tain, however,  that,  when  the  diftemper  rages  with  great 
violence,  natives  as  well  as  foreigners  are  liable  to  be  at- 
tacked. We  cannot  fuppofe  that  all  who  perifhed  at 
Philadelphia  in  1 793  and  1 798  were  foreigners.  Though 
the  latter  therefore  have  the  greatefl  occafion  to  fear* 
the  natives  muft  not  think  themfelves  abfolutely  fecure  ; 
neither  are  foreigners  to  be  terrified  in  fuch  a  manner  as 
if  they  could  not  efcape.  With  refpect  to  the  general 
modes  of  prevention,  then,  to  which  it  is  the  bufinefs  of 
every  individual  to  attend,  the  following  things  are  to  be 
taken  into  confederation  : 

1.  Every  one  who  comes  from  a  cold  to  a  warm  cli* 
mate  may  be  affured  that  on  his  arrival  the  temperature 
of  his  body  is  higher  by  three  or  four  degrees  than  that 
of  the  native  inhabitants. 

2.  In  this  fituation  he  muft  confider  himfelf  as  necef- 
farily  about  to  undergo  a  change  of  conftitution  ;    and 
fuch  change  he  may  likewife  be  affured  will  beft  be  made 
by  the  gradual  operations  of  nature ;    concerning  which 
we  know  fo  littl'e,  that  it  does  not  feem  advifeable  to  ufe 
any  artificial  method  of  promoting  or  accelerating  it. 

3.  As  the  voyage  from  the  Eaftern  continent  muft 
have  taken  up  a  confiderable  time,  and  as  the  mode  of 
living  on  fea  muft  have  been  very  different  from  that  to 
which  he  was  formerly  accuftomed,  we  muft  confider  the 
conftitution  as  already  in  fome  degree  altered  from  what 
it  was  when  the  perfon  firft  went  on  board. 

4,  This 


A    TREATISE    ON 

4.  This  alteration  will  be  greater  or  lefs  according  t6 
circumftances.      If  the  veflel  has  been  much  crowded 
with  paflengers ;  if  the  weather  has  been  ftormy,  fo  that 
he  has  been  expofed  to  damp ;    if  they  have  had  little 
water,  or  of  bad  quality ;    if  their  provifions  have  been 
bad,  or  if  there  has  not  been  a  fufficient  fupply  of  frefli 
air  in  the  place  where  he  flept;    the  body  mud  be  con- 
fidered  as  already  predifpofed  to  difeafe,  which  the  new 
climate  will  fcarcely  fail  of  bringing  to  maturity. 

5.  Every  one  muft  confider  that  mode  of  living  to 
which  he  has  been  accuftomed  the  greateft  part  of  his 
life  as  natural  to  him.     Any  confiderable  deviation  from 
it,  efpecially  if  fudden,  would  be  of  bad  confequence, 
even  in  his  own  country  ;  much  more  muft  it  be  fo  in 
another.     As   much  as  poflible  therefore  he  ought  to 
conform  his  mode  of  life  in  the  new  country  to  what  it 
was  in  the  old,  adhering  only  to  the  rules  of  temperance. 

6.  It  has  already  been  obferved,  that  we  muft  take  in- 
to account  the  time  that  the  perfon  has  been  at  fea,  and 
the  difference  between  his  mode  of  life  during  his  voyage* 
and  that  to  which  he  was  formerly  accuftomed.     This 
difference  confifts  in  one  particular  in  having  lived  for 
fome  weeks  entirely  upon  fait  provifions.     To  thefe  he 
has  been  in  fome  meafure  accuftomed  ;  and  therefore  it 
muft  be  reckoned  injudicious  to  give  up  the  ufe  of  fait- 
ed  meat  at  once  for  fuch  as  is  frem.     In  facl,  this  mode 
of  abandoning  fait  meat  for  frem  has  been  reckoned  by 
the  heft  phyficians  one  of  the  caufes  by  which  the  dif- 
eafe  is  brought  on.     Drs.  Taylor  and  Hansforth  exprefs 
theunfelves  in  the  following  manner  on  thisfubject :  "  It 
ti  has  been  noticed  by  feveral  medical  writers,  that  frefli 
*c  meats,  and  particularly  beef,  in  fouthern  climates,  ap- 
"  parently  generate  fluxes  and  other  malignant  difeafes." 
Or.  Ramfay,  aifo,  fays  of  thofe  who  were  moftly  afFeclcd 
with  the  yellow  fever  in  Norfolk,  that,   "  being  foreign* 
"  ers,  they  dealt  lavifhly  in  beef,  filll,  and  all  kinds  of 
<fc  irelb  food.    Obferve,  this  beef  was  driven  perhaps  from 
€t  one  to  two  hundred  miles  before  killed,  then  expofed  in 
"  a  hot  market  to  vend  ;  that,  by  one  o'clock,  their  din- 
<s  mg  hour,  I  always  did,  and  do,  believe  it  muft  have 

"  been 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER. 

*'  been  tainted.    Obferve,  the  fifli  were  all  dead  by  break 
*'  of  day,  and  brought  by  land  from  twenty  to  twelve 

"  miles — hard    drinkers   of  fpirits   moftly * 

"  One  or  two  natural  born  citizens  were  the  whole,  out 
*'  of  upwards  of  two  hundred  and  twenty,  who,  in  the 
"  fpace  of  fix  weeks,  fell  vi&ims  to  this  difeafe.  The 
"  natives  live  chiefly  on  falted  meats  and  fowls,  or  other 
"  kinds  of  poultry,  which  are  killed  but  a  little  time 
"  before  dreffing."  It  is  unfortunate  that  among  the 
emigrants  from  cold  countries  there  is  a  general  preju- 
dice againft  fait,  as  highly  inflammatory  ;  and  many  <3if- 
eafes  are  imputed  to  the  ufe  of  it  where  it  is  undoubt- 
edly entirely  innocent.  In  very  cold  climates  indeed  it 
has  with  great  reafon  been  fuppofed  to  produce  the 
fcurvy ;  and  the  Tchutiki,  who  conducted  capt.  Bil- 
lings through  their  frozen  regions,  informed  him  that 
fait  was  poifon  in  their  climate  ;  throwing  away,  with 
marks  of  abhorrence,  a  quantity  he  had  brought  with 
him  from  his  frigate.  We  cannot  indeed  argue  from 
fait  being  pernicious  in  a  cold  climate  that  it  is  medi- 
cinal in  a  warm  one,  but  we  mall  foon  fee  that  it  has 
been  recommended  in  the  plague,  and  may  not  impro- 
bably be  ufeful  in  the  yellow  fever.  At  any  rate  the 
pradice  of  the  natives  ought  in  this  refpeCt  to  be  a  rule  for 
emigrants,  rather  than  any  theories  they  may  have  laid 
down  previous  to  their  leaving  their  own  country. 

7.  In  like  manner  thofe  who  newly  arrive  in  a  warm 
climate  ought  to  avoid  as  much  as  poflible  the  ufing  of 
violent  exercife  in  a  heat  greater  than  that  to  which 
they  have  been  accuftpmed,  and  by  all  means  to  avoid 
intemperance  in  fpiritous  liquors.  We  are  not  how- 
ever to  imagine  from  this  that  fuch  as  have  been  accuf- 
tomed  to  drink  fpiritous  liquors  are  all  at  once  to  give 
over  the  ufe  of  them,  and  live  a  life  of  abftinence.  On 
this  fubjccl  Mr.  Hardie,  in  his  account  of  the  malignant 
fever  of  1795,  has  the  following  judicious  obfervation  : 
"  It  has  often  been  faid,  that  temperance  was  the  beft 
<c  prefervative  againft  infection.  The  obfervation,  in 
c<  general,  is  certainly  juft;  but  it  may,  and  during  the 
f<  late  calamity  has,  been  carried  too  far.  For  my  "part, 


A    TREATISE   ON 

"  from  what  has  come  under  my  own  knowledge,  I  have 
kc  no  hefitation  in  afferting,  that  to  perfons  who  had 
"  been  accuftomed  to  live  freely,  nothing  could  be  more 
"  dangerous  than  to  become  remarkably  abftemious 
"  upon  the  appearance  of  this  diforder.  Perfons  of  the 
K  above  defcription  mould,  in  my  opinion,  have  conti- 
**  nued  to  live  in  their  ufual  manner;  by  which  means 
"  they  would  have  been  more  likely  to  repel  infec- 
*c  tion,  or  if  infeded,  they  would  have  more  ftrength  to 
"  refift  the  attack.  But,  whilft  I  confider  abflinence  in 
"  fuch  a  fituation  as  highly  improper,  a  ftate  of  intern- 
"  perance  is  certainly  more  fo  ;  for,  were  it  neceffary,  I 
"  could  mention  the  names  of  feveral  individuals,  who 
"  whilft  in  a  ftate  of  intoxication  were  attacked  with  the 
"  fever,  and  in  two  days  after  were  tenants  of  the  grave. 
c  The  fate  of  fuch  people  might  be  pronounced  almoft 
*'  with  certainty  :  they  were  feized  with  fymptoms  of  a 
"  peculiarly  malignant  nature,  and  their  death  feemed 
"  unavoidable/* 

On  the  fubjecT.  of  vegetables  much  declamation  has 
been  ufed.  Jf  we  give  heed  to  fome,  it  might  almoft  be 
fuppofed  that  all  diieafes  incident  to  human  nature  are 
owing  to  the  ufe  of  animal  food.  The  following  pa- 
ragraphs from  Webfter's  Collecliion  may  ferve  as  a  fpeci- 
men  :  "  We  fhall  not  repeat  the  obfervations  which  we 
"  have  heretofore  made,  upon  the  averfenefs  the  Ame- 
"  ricansfeel  for  foup  and  reftorative  broths,  on  their  eating 
"  their  meat  running  with  blood,  with  fcarcely  any  bread, 
*c  and  plenty  of  heavy  potatoes,  the  only  vegetables  which 
"  are  feen  on  their  tables  ;  whilft  the  French  always  give 
'*  the  preference  to  vegetables,  and  efpecially  to  thofe 
"  which  are  light  and  wholefome.  But  we  cannot  help 
"  obferving,  that,  in  the  months  of  May,  June  and  July, 
**  the  ftreets  and  markets  were  fecn  in  the  morning  fur- 
"  nifhed  with  an  immenfe  quantity  of  fruits,  the  moft 
"  part  of  which  are  either  green  or  unripe.  In  the  even- 
"  ing  all  thofe  fruits  have  difappeared  and  have  been 
'*  eaten  -,  hence  bloody  fluxes,  dyfenteries  and  bad 
"  chyles,  which  unwholfome  food  muft  undoubtedly 
v  produce. 


" 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER.  513 

*s  The  city  of  Naples  contains  about  four  hundred 
tk  thoufand  inhabitants  -,  of  whom  thirty  or  forty  thou- 
"  fand  are  faid  to  belorig  to  the  clafs  of  beggars.  In  that 
"  climate  the  rains  prevail,  with  little  intermiflion,  for 
'"  three  months,  from  February  to  May.  From  May  to 
*e  September,  a  drought,  equally  fevere,  and  fcarcely  allay- 
"  ed  in  many  years  by  a  (ingle  plentiful  rain,  renders 
"  the  heat  almoft  intolerable.  The  wages  of  a  labourer 
"  not  exceeding  eight  pence  this  currency  a  day,  and 
"  meat  being  rarely  had  in  their  markets  for  lefs  than 
"four  pence  the  pound,  and  vinous  liquors  in  the  fame 
"  proportion,  the  mafs  of  population  is  excluded  from 
"  any  (hare  of  thefe  luxuries;  of  confluence  they  fup- 
"  port  themfelves  on  vegetables,  roots,  fallads,  fruits,  &c* 
"  and  dilute  their  food,  and  animate  their  fpirits^  with 
"  water  and  lemonade.  Yet  this  city  has,  for  a  great 
"  number  of  years,  known  no  general  difeafe.  And  for 
<c  ten  years  no  febrile  difeafe,  of  any  fort,  was  common 
"  among  them.  They  alfo  pay  great  attention  to  per- 
"  fonal  cleanlinefs.  Fadh  of  this  fort  are  very  important, 
"  and  form  the  beft  comment  on  the  difcordant  opinions 
"  of  our  phylicians." 

As  a  contraft  to  thefe  the  reader  may  take  the  follow- 
ing quotation  from  the  Medical  Extracts : 

"  One  gentleman  excepted,  fays  Dr.  Shebbeare,  and  I 
:<  never  faw  a  gentleman  or  lady  who  wholly  abftained 
"  from  animal  food  look  like  other  people  $  nothing  is 
"  fo  eafy  to  diftinguifh  as  a  vegetable  man  by  his  phyfi- 
"  ognomy,  the  fitted  appellation  by  which  they  can  be 
<c  diitinguidied  ;  he  neither  moves,  talks  nor  looks  like 
"  other  people  ;  his  face  conveys  a  declaration  of  his 
"  whole  body  being  out  of  order,  by  the  lifelefs  infipidi- 
"  ty  which  is  in  it,  as  his  converfation  does  of  his  mind 
"  being  difturbed,  his  whole  time  being  taken  up  in 
"  recounting  to  the  world  his  manner  of  living,  hisfeel- 
;£  ings,  his  weak  ftomach,  his  difturbed  deep,  &c.  .  .  „ 
"  If  he  pretends  to  have  fpirits,  it  is  no  more  than  a  cef- 
46  tain  equability  of  a  lifelefs,  inanimate  date,  like  that 
•*  of  the  dormoufe  among  animals,  or  the  yew  tree  in 
"  winter  among  vegetables,'*  &c.  (Medical  Extracts, 
vol.  x.  p.  234.)  U  u  u  On 


A    TREATISE    ON 

On  the. fubjeft  of  vegetable  and  animal  food  we  Snd 
the  following  obfervations  in  Willich's  Lectures  on  diet, 
Sec.  "  In  the  primitive  ages,  people  fubfifted  chiefly  on 
i£  plants  and  fruits.  Even  to  this  day  many  nations,  the 

*  Bramins,  for  inftance,  abftain  from  the  ufe  of  animal 
"  food.    The  ancient  Germans  alfo,  who  were  fo  renown- 
K  ed  for  their  bodily  ftrength^  lived  upon  acorns,  wood- 
"apples,  four  milk,  and  other  productions  of  their  then 
"  uncultivated  foiL   la  the  prefent  mode  of  life,  here  (in 
"  England)  as  well  as  on  the  continent,  a  great  proper- 
"  tion  of  She  poorer  clafs  of  country  people  almoft  en- 
;c  tirely  fubfift  on  vegetables.      Although   thefe   people 
"'duly  digeft  their  vegetable  aliment,  and  become  vi- 
"  gorous^-yet  it  is  certain  that  animal  food  would  anfwer 
"  thefe  purpofes  much    better.       Hence,  in  countries 
"  where  the  labouring  clafs  of  people  live  principally  up- 
"  on  animal  food,  they  far  escel  in  ftrcngth  and  dura- 
*<  bility." 

On  the  fobjeft  of  diet  we  (hall  take  notice  only  of 
one  article  more,  and  that  is7  the  ufe  of  warm  diluting 
liquors.  Thefe  are  commonly  three  in  number,  viz". 
tea,  cof&e  and  chocolate.  Abundance  of  declama- 
tions have  been  ptablifhed  againft  the  ufe  of  thefe,  particu- 
larly the  firft  f  but  the  daily  experience  of  multitudes 
fhows  that  its  ufe,  in  moderation,  is  perfectly  innocent. 
Indeed  when  people  go  to  exceis  with  this,  as  well  as  any 
thingclfe,  bad  effedts  niuft  certainly  enfue,  Zimmer- 
man* mentions  a  Dutch  phyiician  (Bontikoe)  who  main- 
tained that  tea  ought  to  be  drank  in  the  quantity  of  ens' 
or  two  linn drsd  cups  a  day  F  But  fuch  ridiculous  excef- 
ies  muft  make  any  thing  deflrucYive  to  health  ;  and  ac- 
cord ingly  this  practice,  being  oppofed  by  Boerhaave, 
foon  fell  into  difufe.  Ccffee  has  the  fame  exhilarating 
rirlue  as  tea,  but  muft  be  considerably  different  in  its 

qualities, 

*  This  aatlwjr  relates  the  following  curious   anecdote  concerning  tea-drink- 
ing  :  «'  \Ve  had  a  gentleman  in  Switzerland,    who  in  every  refpe£t  knew  how 

to  aiVume  the  tone  of  majefty.  He  was  to!d  one  day  that  nothing  elevated 
the  dignity  of  a  king  fo  much  as  when  every  thing  around  him  had  a  pale 
look.  This  intimation  was  fufficient  for  him.  He  directed  all  his  fcrvants 
to  be  blooded  once  a  month,  and  obliged  each  of  them  to  iwallow  fifty  difhes 
of  tea  every  day."  Tea  is  laid  to  produce  a  cadaverous  hue  in  the  nerfon  who 
driiiks  it  after  bloodletting.  ? 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER.  515 

qualities,  as  having  in  it  a  portion  of  empyreumatic  oil 
extra&ed  by  the  toafting,  and  therefore  a  change  from 
tea  to  coffee  in  fuch  as  come  into  a  warm  country  feems 
to  be  improper.  Chocolate  differs  confiderably  from 
both,  poff-ffing  no  exhilarating  virtue,  or  only  in  a  fmall 
degree,  but  is  more  nutritive,  and  in  South  America 
•conftitutes  a  confiderable  part  of  the  food.  On  coming 
into  warm  climates  it  is  obvious  that  the  increafed  per- 
fpiration  muft  be  (applied  by  a  considerable  quantity  of 
diluting  liquids:  and.  foch  of  thefe  as  the  perfon  has 
been  moft  accuftomed  to  ought  to  be  preferred.  For 
the  reft,  diluted  malt  liquors  feem  preferable  to  fpirits 
and  water.  Cyder,  though  very  agreeable  when  frefh, 
is  apt  .to  become  vapid,  and  even  get  a  putrefcent  taint. 
Perhaps  a  plain  infufion  of  malt,  of  late  found  fo  ufeful 
at  fea,  might  alfo  prove  beneficial  at  land,  where  proper 
fermented  liquors  cannot  be  had, 

Thefe  modes  of  prevention  are  obviously  derived 
from  the  circumftances  which  attend  every  emigrant 
from  a  cold  to  a  warm  country.  The  indication 
mud  be,  to  -keep  themfelves  as  cool  as  poffible,  with- 
out debilitating  the  body.  It  was  formerly  a  cuftom 
to  ufe  bleeding  and  purging  when  people  arrived  iu 
warm  latitudes;  but  this  pradice  fell  into  difufe,  per- 
haps without  fufficient  realoR.  Dr.  Ruflh  attefts  the 
efficacy  of  thefe  remedies  as  preventives  when  figns 
of  the  difeafe  appeared.  "  During  the  exigence  of  the 
"  premonitory  fymptoms  (fays  he)  and  before  patients 
•"  were  con-fined  to  their  rooms,  a  gentle  purge,  or  the 
<l  lofs  of  a  few  ounces  of  blood,  in  many  hundred  in- 
"  fiances  prevented  th>e  formation  of  the  fever.  I  did 
*c  not  meet  with  a  fingk  exception  to  this  remark/'  As 
mercury  is  found  to  be  one  of  the  beft  remedies,  if  not 
the  only  one,  that  can  be  depended  upon  for  curing  the 
difeafe  after  it  is  onre  formed,  it  is  natural  to  think  that 
it  would  act  as  a  preventive;  and  accordingly  we  find, 
in  Dr.  Walker's  account  of  the  yellow  fever  in  Jamaica, 
an  inftance  to  our  purpofe.  When  the  fort  of  Omoa 
was  taken  from  the  Spaniards,  a  great  quantity  of 
q^ickfdver  was  carried  off  by  the  Epglifla.  One  {hip 


516  A    TREATISE    ON 

was  loaded  with  it,  and,  the  vefiels  containing  it  being 
broken  by  the  (hot  of  the  fhip  which  captured  her,  a 
number  of  men  were  employed  in  collecting  it  with  their 
hands  into  buckets.  Not  one  of  thefe  men  was  in  the 
lead  affected  with  iicknefs,  though  a  moft  malignant 
fever  raged  among  the  reft.  Preventives  of  fuch  a 
powerful  nature,  however,  could  not  well  be  adopted 
without  the  advice  of  a  phyfician  ;  it  being  evidently 
dangerous  for  any  perfon  unacquainted  with  medicine  to 
tamper  with  hirpfelf  in  this  way. 

When  the  difeafe  happens  to  get  into  a  town,  it  then 
becomes  an  object  for  every  perfon  to  avoid  the  danger  ; 
and  for  this  Dr.  Chifliolm  has  given  fuch  inftructions  as 
feem  to  be  quite  fufficient  for  any  individual,  and  may 
be  very  eafiiy  reduced  to  practice.  His  obfervations 
may  be  fummed  up  as  follows :  i.  To  avoid  going  into 
infected  houfes.  2.  If  this  cannot  be  done,  to  avoid 
going  into  the  chamber  ofthefick.  3.  If  neither  of 
thefe  is  practicable,  to  avoid  a  near  approach  to  the  fick 
perfon.  4.  To  avoid  drawing  in  his  breath,  or  that 
peculiar  fmell  which  ifTues  from  the  bodies  of  the  fick; 
and  not  to  touch  the  bed-clothes.  By  neglecting  this  the 
perfon  becomes  affected  with  naufea :  flight  rigors  and 
head-ach  fucceeci  in  a  few  hours  by  the  difeafe.  5.  Not 
to  touch  the  patient's  body  cr  his  wearing  apparel,  or 
fuffer  the  effluvia  from  either  to  be  blown  upon  the  body. 
The  diftance  at  which  the  contagion  acts  is  by  Dr  Chif- 
holm  fuppofed  not  to  exceed  ten  feet  ;  but  Dr.  Lind 
thinks  it  may  extend  to  fifty  or  fixty  feet  ;  but  this 
muft  depend  very  much  upon  circumftances.  The  on- 
ly thing  that  can  be  done  in  fuch  cafes  is  to  keep  at  as 
great  a  diftance  as  pofjible.  As  to  the  preventives  com- 
monly recommended,  fuch  as  vinegar,  camphor,  garlic, 
£cc.  we  have  no  accounts  of  their  having  ever  been  effi- 
cacious in  any  cafe  ;  and  there  is  not  the  leaft  reafon  to 
think  that  they  can  be  fo. 

To  purify  rooms  or  ihips  from  the  infection  they  have 
received,  it  has  formerly  been  obferved  that  fumigations 
with  the  acid  of  nitre  have  been  recommended.  Ac- 
cording to  the  theory  of  Dr,  Mitchili  of  New  York, 

however, 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER.  517 

however,  this  mode  of  prevention  muft  not  only  be  ufe~ 
jefs  but  pernicious.     The  reafon  is,  that  according  to 
this  gentleman  the   difeafe  is  produced  by  the  very  acid 
in  queftion.     His  reafoning  is  fhortly  this  :  Putrid  fub- 
ftances  evolve  various  forts  of  air,  two  of  which  by  com- 
bination form  the  acid  of  nitre.     Neither  of  thefe  by 
themfelves   are  capable  of  producing  fever,  though  in 
conjunction  they  are.     Their  combination  is  the  acid 
of  nitre,  which  the  Do&or  thinks   is  always  that  which 
produces  putrefaction.     Dr.  Girtanner  has  related  an 
experiment   which  feems  to  confirm  this  opinion,  viz. 
that,  having  inje&ed  fome  nitrous   air  into  the  jugular 
vein  of  a  dog,  the  animal  died  in  a  fliort  time,  and  upon 
opening  him  his  lungs  were  found  of  a  greenifh  colour 
and  partly  putrid.     Dr.  Beddoes  adds,  in  a  note,  that 
the  green  colour  is  a  (ign  of  the  exiftence  of  nitrous  acida 
not  of  putridity  ;  but,   notwithftanding  this,   Dr.  Gir- 
tanner might  ftili  have  been  in  the  right,  as  we  cannot 
fay  that  the  exiftence  of  nitrous  acid  is  incompatible 
with  putridity.     But  there  is   not  any  occafion  to  enter 
into  a  difcuffion  of  the  queftion,  as  the  matter  feems  to 
be  determined  by  facts  which   cannot  be  overthrown. 
Dr.  Carmichael  Smyth,  in  a   treatife  on   the  jail  fever, 
confiders  the  difeafe  as  proceeding  from  putrefaction,  and 
"  particularly  the  putrefaction  of  tht perjpirabfo  matter?* 
when  there  is  not  a  renewal  of  the  application  of  air  to 
carry  it  off."      With  regard   to  Jpecific  contagions  he 
thinks  they  can  neither  be  carried  off  nor  blunted,  but 
by  expofure  to  the  open  air  or  to  a  dream  of  water  ; 
but  with  putrid  contagions  he  believes  that  they  may  be 
deftroyed  by  the  mineral  acids  in  a  ftate  of  vapour.  The 
pernicious  qualities  of  the  fumes  of  fulphur  prevented 
him  from  making  any   trials  with  that  fubftance  ;    but 
to  nitre  there  was  no  fuch   objection,  and  he  therefore 
proceeded  in  the  following  manner  ;  the  fubjects  of  his 
trial  being  the  prifon  wards  at  Winchefter,   where  the 
Spanim  prifoners  were  kept,  and  among  whom  a  typhus 
fever   was  making  rapid  progrefs  :  Having  divided  the 

wards 

*  If  this  be  chiefly  ccmpofed  of  fixed  air  and  azote,  as  has  been  faid  inp, 
»4&,  it  fo  difficult  to  fee  how  putrefaction  can  take  place  in  it. 


A    TREATISE    ON 

wards  into  four  parts,  he  removed  the  prifoners  into  three 
of  them,  took  out  of  the  fourth  divifion  all  the  ham* 
mocks  and  bedding,  and  had  them  thoroughly  cleaned 
out.  The  hammock  pofts  were  well  waflied  with  dilu- 
ted fj>irit  of  fait.  The  wards,  when  dry,  were  clofely  (hut 
up,  and  pots  placed  in  them  at  different  diftances,  con- 
taining from  half  a  pound  to  a  pound  of  nitre,  which 
was  deflagrated  by  an  iron  heater  put  into  each  pot.* 
The  wards  were  then  mut  up  for  fome  hours,  and  when 
opened,  were  expofed  to  a  free  ventilation.  The  procefs 
was  repeated  twice  or  thrice,  after  which  the  prifoners 
were  likewife  cleaned  ;  their  old  clothes,  bedding,  &c. 
taken  away,  were  replaced  by  others,  and  none  of  thefe 
were  afterwards  feized  with  the  fever. 

A  much  more  decifive  experiment  was  afterwards 
made  at  Sheernefs  on  board  the  Union  hofpital  (hip, 
where  there  were  upwards  of  two  hundred  people  fick  of 
a  very  malignant  fever.  Previous  to  the  fumigation  all 
the  parts  and  fcuttles  were  ihut  up.  "  Sand  which  had 
<c  been  heated  in  an  iron  pot  was  then  fcoopecl  into 
"  earthen  pipkins,  into  each  of  which  was  put  a  fmall 
"  tea-cup  containing  about  half  an  ounce  of  vitriolic 
"  acid  ;  to  which  after  it  had  acquired  a  proper  degree 
*'  of  heat  an  equal  quantity  of  nitre  in  powder  was 
f£  gradually  added,  and  the  mixture  flirred  with  a  glafs 
"  fpatula,  until  vapour  arofe  from  it  in  confiderable 
"  quantity.  The  pipkins  were  then  carried  through 
"  the  wards  by  the  nurfes  and  convalefcents  who  kept 
"  walking  about  with  them  in  their  hands,  occafionally 
*'c  putting  them  under  the  cradles  of  the  fick,  and  in 
*'  every  corner  where  any  foul  air  was  fufpecled  to  lodge, 
*c  thus  the  fumigation  was  continued,  until  the  whole 
"  fpace  between  decks,  fore  and  aft,  was  filled  with  the 
"  vapour,  which  appeared  like  a  thick  haze." 

The  firft  fumigation  was  performed  in  about  three 
hours  ;  the  vapour  fubfided  in  about  an  hour,  when  the 
ports  and  icuttles  were  thrown  open  for  the  acimifiion  of 

frefli 

*  It  is  not  cafy  to  undcrftand  this.  Nitre  cannot  deflagrate  or  burn,  unlefr. 
:t  be  mixed  with  charcoal,  lulphuri  or  foine  inflammable  i'ubftance.  The  iron 
heater  could  only  expel  ths  wuteri  with  a  fmail  proportion  ot  acid. 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER.  519 

frcfli  air.  Mr.  Menzies,  the  operator,  perceived  that  even 
by  this  firfl;  fumigation  the  air  was  confiderably  fweetened  ; 
and  on  repeating  the  operation  next  day,  which  {now 
that  the  people  were  more  expert)  took  up  only  an  hour, 
fuch  a  change  was  made  as  the  nurfes  and  attendants 
were  very  fenfible  of,  and,  beginning  to  put  confidence 
in  the  remedy,  approached  the  cradles  of  the  fick  with 
lefs  fear.  The  experiment  was  further  carried  on  by 
Mr.  Baffin,  to  whom  Mr.  Menzies  refigned  the  office  of 
conducting  it  ;  and  from  repeated  trials  it  appeared  that 
the  fumigation  effectually  counteracted  the  influence  of 
the  contagion,  though  numbers  of  patients,  labouring 
under  the  mod  malignant  fevers,  were  received  from  the 
Ruffian  fliips  of  war. 

The  good  effects  of  nitrous  vapour  ufed  in  this  way  is 
alfo  confirmed  by  Mr.  David  Paterfon,  now  furgeon  in 
Montrofe  in  Scotland.  The  trial  took  place  in  the  pri- 
fon  wards  at  Forton.  The  operation  was  performed  in 
the  manner  above  related,  and  with  fuch  fuccefs,  that  a 
ward  57  feet  long,  10  feet  and  an  half  high,  and  20  feet 
broad,  was  filled  in  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  only  by 
means  of  three  pipkins.  The  good  effeds  were  extreme- 
ly obvious,  and  Mr.  Paterfon  obferved  that  in  the  wards 
which  had  been  fumigated  at  night  there  was  an  agreea- 
ble fmell  next  morning  ;  and  by  this  fmell  he  was  able 
to  difcover  whether  the  operation  had  been  properly  per- 
formed or  not.  The  fame  author  gives  feveral  cafes  in 
which  the  good  effects  of  the  pure  acid  vapour  of  nitre 
in  cleanfing  putrid  ulcers  was  manifeft.  A  third  tefti- 
rnony  of  the  efficacy  of  this  vapour  is  given  in  a  letter 
to  Dr.  Garthfliore  of  London  from  Mr.  James  M'Gre- 
gor,  furgeon  to  the  88th  regiment,  in  the  ifland  of  Jer- 
iey.  The  difcafe  was  a  typhus  fever,  winch  had  formerly 
proved  very  cltftru&ive  ;  but,  while  the  acid  vapour 
was  ufed,  only  one  out  vifixty-fix  cafes  proved  fatal.  Mr. 
M'Gregor  is  not  only  of  opinion  that  the  nitrous  fume 
prevented  the  contagion  from  acting  fatally,  but  that  it 
deftrov-cd  it  altogether,  fo  that  no  more  cafes  appeared. 
Mr.  Paterfon  made  trial  of  different  acids,  but  had  not 
completed  his  experiments  :  we  are  informed,  however, 

in 


520  A    TREATISE    ON 

in  the  Medical  Extracts,  that  in  the  year  1795,  neaf 
about  the  time  that  the  lad  experiments  were  made  up- 
on the  Union  hofpital  fhip,  Morveau  in  France  had  em* 
ployed,  for  the  fame  purpofe,  oxygenated  muriatic  acid* 
in  the  form  of  air  or  vapour,  with  which  he  purified 
the  infected  hofpital  at  Dijon  ;  and  the  fame  method 
was  afterwards  extended  to  the  different  military  hofpi- 
tals  by  a  decree  of  the  National  Aflembly. 

This  mode  of  prevention  teems  to  be  eftablifhed  on 
as  fure  a  tefiimony  as  any  thing  can  be  ;  but  what  can 
befaid  that  will  not  be  difputed  ?  Dr.  Trotter  has 
argued  in  the  moft  ftrenuous  manner  that  fuch  fu- 
migation is  not  only  ufelefs,  but  pernicious.  "  The 
"  whole  prefervative  means  (fays  he)  are  comprifed  in 
"  the  immediate  removal  of  the  lick  ;  cleanlinefs  in  per- 
"  fon  and  in  clothing  ;  fires  to  keep  the  people  warm  in 
"  the  winter  feafon  ;  avoiding  cold  and  moifture, fatigue 
cc  and  intoxication  ;  and  keeping  the  fhip  dry  and  pro- 
"  perly  ventilated.'*  To  thefe  he  alfo  thinks  it  would 
be  expedient  to  add  a  band  of  mufic  in  order  to  keep  up 
the  fpirits  of  the  people  ;  but,  with  regard  to  any  thing 
elfe,  he  thinks  that  "  a  phyfician  of  a  fleet,  though  arm- 
"  ed  with  a  diploma,  and  with  the  chemiftry  of  the  ele- 
"  ments  at  his  fingers'  ends,  will  find  that  very  little  has 
"  been  left  for  him  to  do  ;  \vh»tk-r  Ms  doctrine  of  pro 
"  phylactics  (preventives)  bttkzvinegar  of  the  four  thieves  9 
"  or  the  fumigations  of  modern  phyficians,  under  the 
"  fcientific  appellations  of  fulphureous  gas,  muriatic  acid 
"  g^s>  or  nitrous  gas."  The  Doclcr  was  fo  zealous 
againil  thefe  noxious  fumigations,  that  he  wrote  to  Evan 
"Nepean,  efq.  at  the  Admiralty  upon  the  fubjed.  His 
argument  was,  that  every  poffible  method  was  taken  on 
board  of  veffels  to  expel  azote  or  mepliilic  air,  by  opening 
ports,  fcutties,  &c.  and  putting  do'vn  windfalls,  &c. 
"  This  azote  is  the  biife  of  the  nitrous  acid  :  they  only 
"  diffcrr  in  the  degrees  of  combination  with  oxygen,  or 
"  what  was  formerly  called  dephiogifticated  air  :  and  in 

"  proportion 

*  Perhaps  this  vapour  may  be  as  efficacious  as  the  other  in  defraying  con- 
tagion, but  its  fmell  is  fo  extremely  oifenfive  and  dii agreeable  to  the  lungs* 
that  on  this  account  nitrous  vapour  feems  much  preferable. 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER.  521 

*8  proportion  to  the  quantity  it  attracts  of  this  principle 
et  it  is  called  azote,  azotic  gas,  nitrous  gas,  nitrous  acid, 
"  nitric  acid.  In  ihort,  Dr.  Smyth's  preventive  is  the 
5<  very  fubdance  that  every  intelligent  officer  is  hourly 
"  employed  to  drive  from  the  decks  of  his  Majedy's 
"  ihips."*  This  letter  was  t  ran  fm  it  ted  to  the  commiflion- 
ers  for  the  fick  and  wounded  for  their  report.  The  an- 
fwer  of  the  commiffioners  was  to  the  full  as  learned  as 
the  Doctor's  letter ;  but  they  confidered  the  experiments 
of  Dr.  Smyth  and  others  as  quite  decifive  upon  the 
fubjecl,  fo  that  Dr.  Trotter  was  obliged  to  fubmit.  The 
matter  therefore  being  determined  by  fuch  high  autho- 
rity, we  rnuft  take  leave  of  the  fubjed:,  and  proceed  .to 
confider  the  mode  of  preventing  the  difeafe  from  getting 
entrance  into  any  town,  or  of  eradicating  it  when  once 
it  has  got  in. 

Among  thefe  the  enacting  and  dridtly  enforcing  qua- 
rantine laws  certainly  hold  the  firfl  place.  But  thefe 
belonging  entirely  to  the  magidracy  and  police  of  the 
place  cannot  be  the  fubjecl:  of  any  difcuffion  here.  The 
fuccefs  of  thefe  has  been  fo  great  in  other  countries,  that 
Dr.  Willich  informs  us  "  that  fome  of  the  mod  ingeni- 
"  ous  practitioners  of  Italy  and  Germany  are,  at  this 
"  moment,  employed  in  a  ferious  attempt  wholly  to  ex- 
"  tirpate  this  contagion  (the  fmall  pox)  from  the  conti- 
"  nent  of  Europe  ;  an  objedt  which  has  formerly  been 
"  accompliihed  in  the  cafes  of  the  plague  and  leprofy."-f- 
Perhaps,  then,  it  is  no  improbable  fuppofition,  that,  by 
a  drift  obfervance  of  quarantine  laws*  and  attention 
to  cleanlinefs,  the  yellow  fever  may  be  eradicated  at  leaft 
from  the  northern  dates,  whofe  climates  are  lefs  conge- 
nial to  it  than  the  fouthern. 

Dr.  Chifliolm  informs  us  that  the  general  plan  of  pre- 
vention made  ufe  of  in  Grenada  confids  in  the  dedruc- 
tion  of  all  fmall  wooden  buildings  ;  obliging  the  inhabi- 
tants to  build  with  done  or  brick  5  to  make  fpacious 
ftreets ;  to  have  the  rooms  of  the  houfes  as  large  as  poffi- 
ble< ;  dables,  neceffaries,  &c.  at  a  didance  3  and  certain 

places 

*  Medicina  Nauticai  p.  329.  t  WUlichj  p.  ij. 

X  x  x 


.A    TREATISE    ON 

places  appointed  as  receptacles  for  filth,  to  which  it  mufl: 
be  carried  every  morning  ;  flaughter-houfes  at  a  dif- 
tance  from  the  town,  &c.  with  a  number  of  other  parti- 
culars relative  to  cleanlinefs  which  it  is  needlefs  to  enu- 
merate here  ;  not  forgetting  the  quarantines,  lazaret- 
tos, &c.  without  which  he  does  not  think  any  activity 
on  the  part  of  the  people  can  avail. 

Dr.  Rum,  who  is  an  enemy  to  quarantines,  recom- 
mends to  the  people  of  Philadelphia  the  following  par- 
ticulars :  "  i.  Let  the  docks  be  immediately  cleaned, 
"  and  let  the  accumulation  of  filth  in  them  be  prevent- 
"  ed  in  future,  by  conveying  water  into  them  by  a  paf- 
"  fage  under  the  wharves,  or  by  paving  them  with  large 
"  flag  ftones  inclining  in  fuch  a  manner  towards  the 
"  channel  of  the  river  as  that  the  filth  of  the  ftreets  mail 
"  defcend  from  them  (after  it  falls  into  the  docks)  into 
"  the  river.  This  method  of  paving  docks  has  been 
"  ufed  with  fuccefs  in  the  city  of  Breft.  2.  Let  every 
"  (hip  that  belongs  to  our  port  be  compelled  by  law  to 
"  carry  a  ventilator.  Let  all  fuch  (hips  as  are  difcovered 
<c  to  contain  foul  air  in  their  holds  be  compelled  to  dif- 
"  charge  their  cargoes- before  they  reach  our  city,  and 
"  let  the  mips  in  port  be  compelled  to  pump  out  their 
"  bilge  water  everyday.  3.  Let  the  common  fewers  be 
"  warned  frequently  with  dreams  of  water  from  our 
"  pumps.  Perhaps  an  advantage  would  arife  from 
"  opening  them,  and  removing  fuch  foul  matters  as 
."dreams  of  water  .are  unable  to  wafli  away.  4.  Let 
"  the  gutters  be  warned  every  evening  in  warm  weather. 
"  By  frequently  warning  the  fbreets  and  pavements  the 
"  heat  of  the  city  would  be  leffened,  and  thereby  one 
"  of  the  predifpofing  caufes  of  the  fever  would  in  fome 
*c  meafuic  be  obviated.  5.  The  ut mod  care  mould  be 
"  taken  to  remove  the  filth  from  the  yards  and  cellars  of 
"  every  houfe  in  the  city.  Hog-flies  mould  be  forbid- 
"  den  in  yards,  and  the  walls  of  cellars  fhouid  be  white- 
"  v/amed  two  or  three  times  a  year,  and  their  floors 
"  mould  be  conftantly  covered  with  a  thin  layer  of  lime. 
61  White  warning  the  outfide  of  houfes  in  fickly  itreets 
"  would  probably  be  ufeful.  6.  Lef  the  privies  be  emp- 

"  tied 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER.  523 

**  tied  frequently ;  and  let  them  be  constructed  in  fucli 
"  a  manner  as  to  prevent  their  contents  from  oozing 
st  through  the  earth  fo  as  to  contaminate  the  water  of 
"  the  pumps.  7.  Let  all  the  filth  be  removed  from  the 
"  neighbourhood  of  the  city,  and  let  the  brick  kiln  and 
"  other  ponds  be  filled  up  from  time  to  time  with  the 
"  earth  which  is  obtained  in  digging  cellars.  8.  In  the 
"  future  improvements  of  our  city,  let  there  be  no  more 
"  dwelling  houfes  erected  in  alleys.  They  are  often  the 
"  fecret  receptacles  of  every  kind  of  filth.  9.  The  pre- 
"  difpofition  of  our  citizens  to  be  affected  by  the  remote 
"  and  exciting  caufes  of  the  yellow  fever  would  be  very 
"  much  leflened  by  their  living  fparingly  upon  frefli 
<c  animal  food,  and  chiefly  upon  broths  and  frefli  vegeta- 
"  bles,  rendered  favoury  by  fpices  and  a  fmall  quantity 
"  of  falted  meat,  during  the  fummer  and  autumnal 
<c  months.  A  conftant  attention  (liould  be  paid  at  the 
*c  fame  time  to  bodily  cleanlinefs." 

Thefe  are  the  modes  of  prevention  which  feem  to  be 
the  moft  obvious  and  neceflary,  as  well  as  approved  by 
the  beft  judges.  It  appears,  however,  that  in  certain 
cafes  neither  human  fkill  nor  care  can  prevent  or  cure 
the  diforder.  The  number  of  phyficians  who  have  fal- 
len victims  to  this  difeafe  are  too  manifeft  proofs  of 
this.*  Indeed,  when  we  confider  that  it  is  the  nature 
of  the  diftemper  firft  of  all  to  attack  the  vital  parts,  and 
that  this  attack  may  commence  with  little  or  no  pain, 

it 

*  Dr.  Rufh  pathetically  laments  the  lofs  of  Dr.  Nicholas  Way,  who  had 
been  his  intimate  friend.  In  a  poem  called  the  Political  Greenboufe  we  find 
fome  account  of  the  death  of  Drs.  Smith,  Cooper  and  Scandella,  whoalfo  pe- 
ri/hed  ;  and  the  fates  of  Drs.  Smith  and  Scandella  were  con neded  with  one 
another.  Dr.  Cooper  of  Philadelphia  was  feized  with  the  difeafe  in  that  city. 
A  friend  who  attended  him  fickened  during  his  attendance,  and  Dr.  Cooper, 
before  he  had  thoroughly  recovered,  attended  in  his  turn  the  friend  who  had 
taken  care  of  him.  A  relapfe  enfued,  and  the  Doftor  died.  Dr.  Smith  was 
intimate  with  Dr.  Scandella  of  Venice,  who  had  come  from  thence  to  Ameri- 
ca, and  was  at  New  York  during  the  time  of  the  fever  in  1 798.  Intending  to 
return  to  Europe,  he  waited,  there  for  the  Englifli  packet  boat ;  but,  being  in- 
formed  that  a  foreign  lady  in  Philadelphia,  for  whofe  daughter  he  had  an  at- 
tachment,  was  fick  of  the  yellow  fever,  he  returned  to  that  city  ;  but  could 
Sot  lave  either  mother  or  daughter  from  the  cruel  difeafe.  On  Seandella's 
corning  to  New  York  the  fecond  time  he  could  find  no  body  that  would  re- 
ceive  him  as  a  lodger.  In  this  forlorn  fituation  he  wrote  to  Dr.  Smith,  who 
inftantly  gave  him  an  invitation  to  his  houle.  Here  he  was  feized  with  the 
fever,  and  was  attended  by  Dr,  Smith,  until  the  latter  alfo  fell  lick.  A  friend 
who  lived  in  the  houfe  attended  firft  Pr,  Scandella,  and  then  Dr.  Smith,  UK. 
til  both  died. 


524  A    TREATISE    ON 

it  is  evident  that  an  attack  may  be  begun  before  we 
think  of  a  preventive,  and  may,  as  it  were  in  a  moment, 
prevail  in  fuch  a  manner  as  to  be  entirely  beyond  the 
reach  of  medicine,  before  even  a  medicine  is  thought 
tteceffary.  In  every  cafe  therefore,  where  the  yellow  fe- 
ver prevails,  an  attention  to  health  becomes  as  neceflary 
as  procuring  the  means  of  fubliftence.  Every  precau- 
tion muft  be  ufed,  and  when  we  have  done  fo  we  are 
not  even  then  fecure.  We  are  ignorant  of  the  natural 
caufes  which  produce  it  ;  they  are  invifible  to  our 
fenfes,  and  incomprehenfible  by  our  understandings. 
Safety  then  can  only  be  expected  from  the  protection  of 
that  Being  to  whom  all  natural  caufes  are  known,  and 
to  whom  all  muft  yield  obedience.  In  fhort,  w^  may 
fum  up  the  whole  in  the  well  known  fentence,  "  He  that 
will  fov&  life,  and  fee  good  days,  let  him  refrain  his  TONGUE 
from  EVIL,  and  his  LIPS  that  they /peak  no  GUILE.  Let 
him  efchew  EVIL  and  do  GOOD  ;  let  him  fee k  PEACE,  and 
enfue  it"  A  very  ftrange  receipt  indeed,  we  will  fay  ; 
but  how  often  have  we  tried  it  ? 

The  cure  of  the  yellow  fever  hath  been  attempted  in 
various  ways,  according  to  the  theories  laid  down  by 
different  phyficiana  concerning  its  nature.  Dr.  Cullert 
conficiers  it  as  of  the  nature  of  typhus  fever,*  and  of  con - 
fequence  would  have  treated  it  with  antimonials ;  moft 
probably  with  his  favourite  remedy,  tartar  emetic.  Dr. 
Rufh,  from  his  opinion  that  it  is  the  highefl  degree  of 
inflammatory  fever,  recommends  powerful  evacuants,  and 
large  blood-letting,  in  1793,  and  1797,  though  he  feems 
to  have  altered  his  fentirnents  in  1798.  Dr.  Brown, 
who  would  have  confklered  it  as  a  difeafe  of  debility, 
would  of  courfe  have  prefcrihed  opium  and  other 
ftimulants ;  and  laftly,  on  the  theory  of  Dr.  Mitchill, 
that  the  difeafe  proceeds  from  an  acid,  remedies  of 
a  nature  directly  oppofite,  viz.  alkalies,  ought  to  be 
ufeful.  It  is  not  the  defign  of  this  treatife  to  enter 
into  any  consideration  or  comparifon  of  the  practice 
of  different  phyficians,  but  to  point  out  at  once,  to 
thofe  who  are  not  phyficians,  the  remedies  which  have 

been, 

*  Typhus  Idleroides, 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER. 

been,  by  general  confent,  accounted  mod  efficacious  j 
and  in  this  refpect  there  is  now  a  furprifing  unanimity 
among  gentlemen  of  the  medical  profeffion.  Thofe 
which  hold  the  firft  rank  are, 

i.  Mercury.  In  the  ufe  of  this  medicine  the  phyfi- 
cians  of  the  Wefterri  world  have  certainly  excelled  thofe 
of  the  Eaft.  In  a  paper  in  the  Medical  Repofitory,  vol. 
i,  p.  500,  Dr.  Holyoke  of  Salem  fays  that  the  practice  of 
giving  mercury  was  firft  introduced  into  New  England 
about  60  or  70  years  ago,*  by  a  phyfician  from  Scot- 
land, a  difciple  of  the  celebrated  Pitcairn.  In  1734  or 
1735  it  was  ufed  fuccefsfully  in  a  very  malignant  difeafe 
called  the  throat  diftemper,  and  which  he  thinks  was  of 
the  fame  genus  with  the  malignant  ulcerous  fore  throat 
treated  of  by  Huxham.  About  45  years  ago  it  was  com- 
monly ufed  in  pleurilies  and  other  inflammatory  difor- 
ders ;  and,  ever  fince  the  year  1751  or  1752,  it  has  been 
ufed  by  Dr.  Holyoke  himfelf.  In  Europe,  however, 
the  cafe  was  exceedingly  different  ;  mercury  being  there 
generally  reckoned  pernicious  in  fuch  diforders,  from  a 
notion  of  its  being  inflammatory,  or  diflblving  the  blood. 
Thus,  on  the  appearance  of  the  Boullam  fever  in  Grena- 
da, Dr.  Chifholcn  found  hicnfelf  exceedingly  at  a  lofs 
what  to  do,  and  he  feems  to  have  invented,  rather  than 
to  have  been  previoufly  inftruRed  in,  the  mercurial  prac- 
tice. His  fuccefs,  however,  was  very  great,  provided  he 
could  raife  a  falivation  ;  but  in  order  to  do  this  he  was 
frequently  obliged  to  give  much  larger  dofes  than  he  had 
ever  done  before,  or  had  any  notion  of  doing.  In  p. 
i  59  he  mentions  one  patient  who  took  400  grains  before 
the  falivary  glands  were  affected.  He  tells  us,  however, 
p.  271,  that,  on  the  re-appearance  of  the  fever  in  1794,  he 
gave  the  medicine  in  much  larger  dofes  than  before  ;  be- 
ginning with  mercury  without  any  previous  evacuations 
which  he  had  ufed  the  year  before,  and  with  fuch  fuc- 
cefs that  he  did  not  lofe  a  fingle  patient  ;  fo  that  he 
profeffes  himfelf  almoft  ready  to  pronounce  it  infallible 
in  curing  the  difeafe.  The  practice  of  giving  mercury 
is  confirmed  by  Dr.  Rufh,  and  indeed  by  fo  many 

other 

*  The  Do£lpr's  letter  is  dated  December,  1797. 


5z6  A    TREATISE    ON 

other  phyficians,  that  it  is  fuperfiuous  to  quote  them. 
Dr.  Nafly,  formerly  mentioned,  again  ftands  almoft  fin- 
gular  in  condemning  the  medicine,  becaufe  it  difTolves 
the  blood  ;  but  it  is  impoffible  that  any  theory,  however 
plaufible,  can  (land  againft  well  attefted  facts.  Dr.  Ruih 
is  indeed  very  much  of  opinion  that  it  is  eafily  practica- 
bk  for  people  to  cure  themfelves  of  this  diforder,  dread- 
ful as  it  is,  provided  they  take  it  in  time.  But  by  this  we 
xnuft  underftand,  that  the  very  moment  the  perfons  feels 
uneafinefs  he  muft  apply  a  remedy,  and  not  trufl  to  na- 
ture, in  any  cafe  whatever.  When  the  yellow  fever  pre- 
vails, every  one  who  feels  the  flighteft  diforder  may  be 
afTured  that  his  diforder  partakes  of  its  nature,  and  ought 
immediately  to  have  recourfe  to  a  mercurial  purge* 
Dr.  Rulli  fays  alfo  that  bleeding  fhould  be  firft  perform- 
ed. The  many  difputes,  however,  concerning  the  effi- 
cacy of  this  laft  remedy,  muft  make  any  perfon  hefitate 
at  the  application  of  it  without  medical  advice,  efpecial- 
ly  as  a  mercurial  purge  may  be  fafely  taken  without  it. 

2.  'Blood-letting.  This  was,  by  Dr.  Rufh,  confidered 
as  the  capital  remedy  in  1793  ;  but  Dr.  Chiiholm,  who 
made  trial  of  it  in  the  Boullam  fever,  found  that  it  could 
not  be  ufed  with  any  degree  of  fafety.  Dr.  Jackfon 
lays  it  is  frequently  neceffary  in  the  Jamaica  fever,  but 
it  was  feldorn  of  ufe  to  repeat  it.  Dr.  Walker  fays  it 
increafed  the  debility  in  the  fame  fever  of  1793,  94  and 
9£.  Dr.  Mofeley  recommends  it  in  the  yellow  fever  of 
the  Weft  Indies,  but  only  in  the  firft  ftage,  and  fays  that 
the  injudicious  performance  of  this  operation,  when  the 
fecond  ftage  has  come  on,  has  given  occafion  to  the 
opinion  that  a  patient  cannot  bear  two  bleedings.  Dr. 
Coffin  found  it  ufeful  at  Newburyport  in  1796,  in  the 
beginning  of  the  difeafe,  and  fays  it  may  fometimes  be 
repeated.  Repeated  bleedings  are  recommended  by  Dr. 
Ouviere  of  Philadelphia,  who  fays  they  are  not  to  be 
omitted  even  in  fat  and  weak  habits.  This  is  confirmed 
by  the  editor  of  the  Medical  Repofitory,  vol.  i,  p.  92, 
who  fays  it  was  ufecl  with  fuccefs  at  the  hofpital  in  New 
York  in  1796,  "  at  repeated  times,  to  the  amount  of 
**  from  24  to  175  ounces,  and  in  forne  cafes  feveral  times 

"  performed 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER. 

<c  performed  after  the  fixth  day  of  the  difeafe,  to  the 
"  great  relief  of  the  lick."  Dr.  Bruce  recommends  it  in 
the  iiland  of  Barbadoes  in  the  robuft  and  plethoric,* 
Dr.  Hillary  fays  that  in  the  fame  ifland  it  is  always  abfo- 
lutely  necefTary,  and  that  it  may  even  be  repeated  once* 
but  that  a  third  bleeding  was  feldom  necefiary.  Dr. 
Wright,  in  the  fame  ifland,  found  the  "  lancet  not  onlf 
unneceffary  but  dangerous  in  the  extreme."  Dr.  Clarke, 
in  Dominica,  found  it  generally  very  pernicious,  and  a£ 
fures  us  "  that  there  was  not  a  fingle  inftance  of  an  emi- 
"  grant  recovering  who  had  been  bled  in  this  difeafe,  la 
"  the  firfl  24  hours  indeed  it  was  admiflible  in  the  young 
*{  and  athletic  feized  a  fhort  time  after  their  arrival,  but 
"  after  that  time,  or  at  mod  after  36  hours,  it  will  al- 
"  ways  be  found  prejudicial,  if  not  fatal."  It  was  not 
tried  by  Dr.  Bryce  on  board  the  Bufbridge.  It  is  re- 
commended by  Dr.  Currie  in  his  treatife  on  bilious  fe- 
vers. 

It  is  needlefs  to  take  up  time  with  a  detail  of  more 
©pinions.  From  thofe  already  recited  it  is  natural  to 
conclude  that  the  fever  in  fome  places,  and  at  fornc 
times,  differs  very  much  from  others.  This  is  conform- 
able to  the  opinion  of  Dr.  Currie,  who  fays,  that  the 
bilious  fever  "  is  amazingly  influenced  in  its  afpect  and 
aptoms  by  the  foil,  fituation,  climate,  feafon,  and 
"  by  the  preceding  and  prefent  ftate  of  the  atmofphere, 
"  and  the  cuftomary  mode  of  living  of  the  inhabitants/* 
The  utility  or  even  fafety  of  blood  letting  then  feems  to 
depend  on  circumftances  which  can  be  only  known* 
and  that  perhaps  with  difficulty,  at  the  time ;  nor  can  its 
fuccefs  in  one  feafon  be  a  fufficient  argument  for  the  ge- 
neral practice  of  it  in  another. 

3.  Vomits  have  generally  been  found  dangerous.     Dr, 
Mofeley,  Dr.  Rufli,  and  indeed  almoft  all  who  have  prao 
tifccl  in  this  difeafe,  fay,  that  they   cannot   be  ventured 
upon  without  extreme  caution.     Dr.  Chifholm,  in  imi- 
tation of  the  Ruffian  practice  in  the  true  plague,  at- 
tempted the  cure  of  the  Boullam   fever  by  vomits  ; 
but,  as  one  half  of  thofe  to  whom  they  were  exhibit- 
ed 
*  Lind  on  hot  climates. 


A    TkEAf ISE   CiW 

ed  died  of  the  difeafe,  he  did  not  think  there  was 
encouragement  to  proceed.  Perhaps  as  preventives  they 
might  be  ufeful,  as  it  feems  probable  indeed  that  any 
thing  muft  be  which  tends  to  cleanfe  the  alimentary 
canaL 

4.  Purgatives  are  found  extremely  ufeful,  both  as  pre- 
ventives and  medicines.     There  are  innumerable  inftan- 
ces  where  an  incipient  attack  of  the  difeafe  has  been  carri* 
ed  off  by  a  brifk  purge.    Dr.  Chifholm  was  able  to  remove 
the  flighter  cafes  of  Boullam  fever  by  purgatives.     He 
ufed  at  firft  glauber  falts  with  two  grains  of  tartarifed 
antimony,  which  generally  proved  emetic  as  well  as  pur- 
gative ;  but  he  afterwards  ufed  with  advantage  the  bet- 
ter purging  falts,  rendering  the  folution  palatable  by  the 
addition  of  lime  juice  and  fugar.     But  in  all  violent  ca- 
fes he  would  depend  on  nothing  but  mercury. 

5.  Stimulating  medicines .     The  ftimulants  commonly 
ufed  on  the  Brunonian  plan,  viz.  opium,  bark,  £tc.  are  uni- 
verfally  owned  to  be  pernicious.     In  a  letter  from  Dr- 
Sayres  to  Dr.  Currie,*  the  former  fays,   that   "  bark, 
"  wine,  and  a  number  of  the  common  ftimulants,  were 
"  given  on  the  firft  appearance  of  debility  taking  place; 
"  but  with  little  fuccefs.     Finding  the  common  round 
"  of  medicine  ineffectual  in  the  advanced  ftate  of  the 
"  difeafe,  I  determined  (fays  Dr.  Sayres)  to  ufe  a  different 
"  mode  of  treatment.     In  three  cafes  of  adults,  two  of 
"  which  had  the  black  vomiting,  and  the  third  was  in  a 
"  gore  of  putrid  blood  from  the  mouth  and  nofe,  Ifor- 
"  bid  medicine,  and  directed  very  cold  water  and  bran- 
"  dy  mixed  ftrong,  to  be  given  as  freely  as  poffible.     It 
"  had  the  happy  effect  of  checking  the  vomiting  in  two 
<c  cafes,  when  the  ftomach   had   rejected   every  kind  of 
"  mild  drink,  &c.  and,  by  continuing  that  practice  al- 
"  moft  fo  as  to  produce  high  intoxication,   for  two  or 
"  three  days,  thefc  two  cafes  were  recovered  almoftfrom 
"  a  ftate  of  death.     The  third  was   apparently  much 
"  benefited  for  three  days  ;  but,  beinginahigh  putrefcent 
"  ftate  when  I  faw  him,  and  having  loft  a  very  confider- 
"  able  quantity  of  blood  from  the  mouth,  nofe,  &c.  he 

"  died 
*  Memoirs  of  Yellow  Fever,  p.  137, 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER,  529 

died  on  the  ninth  day/'  In  the  Boullam  fever  Dr. 
'biiholm  ufed  the  Anguftura  bark  in  twelve  cafes,  eight 
>f  whom  recovered  ;  but,  though  it  was  greatly  fuperior 
to  the  Peruvian  bark,  he  did  not  think  proper  to  truft 
to  it  in  violent  cafes. 

6.  Alkaline  remedies.      Thefe  have  been  recommend- 
ed on  the  fuppofition  that  the  yellow  fever  is  occafioned 
by  an  acid.     Their  efficacy  is  attefted  by  Dr.  Jeremiah 
B  u'ker  of  Portland,  who  fays  that  they  afforded  more  re- 
lief than  any  others,  and  that  all  the  cafes  accompanied 
with  yellownefs  ended  favourably,  but  one.     The  alka- 
line remedies  "  would  actually   alleviate  the  diftrefiing 
"  pain  and  anguifh  at  the  ftonaach,   which  would  not 
"  yield  to  opiates.    The  morbid  excitement  too  was  evi- 
"  dently  under  the  controul  of  alkalies  $  the  febrile  dif- 
"  turbance  appeared  to  be  in  a  direct  ratio  to  the  degree 
"  of  virulence  in  the  deleterious  caufe."*    We  have  not 
any  particular  details  of  cafes,  nor  any  form  of  exhibition 
pointed  out.     In  a  dy (enteric  fever  indeed  he  fays  that 
he  ufed   a  mixture  of  a  quarter  of  an  ounce  of  fait  of 
wormwood  with  a  pound  of  lime  water  ;    the  dofe  from 
one  to  two  ounces  every  hour,  once  in  fome  cafes  every 
half  hour,  or  oftner,  in  an  infufion  of  camomile.^    Cal- 
cined oyfler  flielis  were  fometimes  given  from  40  to  60 
grains. 

7.  Cooling  medicines,  external  and  internal.     The  good 
effects  of  cold  water  applied  to  the   body  in   fevers  has 
long  been  known.    Dr.  Jackfon  obferves  that  it  was  firft 
introduced  at  Rome  in   the  infancy  of  the  Methodic 
feet,  and  attained  afterwards  a  high  degree  of  celebrity, 
its  reputation  was  highly  raifed  by  a  cure  performed  on 
the   emperor  Auguftus ;    but  foon  after  funk  by  the 
death  of  Marcellus,  the  prefumtive  heir  to  the  empire,  to 
whom  it  had  been  improperly  prefcribed.   It  was  foon  after 
prefciibcd  again,  and  greatly  ufed  by  Galen;  and   after 
him  was  in  (till  greater  favour  with  the  Arabian   phyfi- 
clans ;  but,  fiace  the  revival  of  literature,  has  been  much 

neglected 

*  Medical  Repof.  vol.  iif  p.  149. 

i  In  this  mixture  the  fixed  air  in  the  alkaline  fait  would  iaftantly  deftroy 
the  virtues  of  the  lime  water  by  precipitating  the  lime.  What  is  fold  for  fait 
9f  wormwood  is  neither  more  nor  leis  than  common  peail  alh, 

Yyy 


530  A    TREATISE    ON 

negle&ed  till  of  late.  In  the  fever  of  Jamaica,  after  the 
fatal  fymptoms  were  removed,  Dr.  Jackfon  fays,  that  the 
tone  and  vigour  of  the  fyftem  was  beft  reftored  by  cold 
bathing,  "  which  (fays  he)  I  am  induced  to  confider  as 
"  the  moft  important  remedy  in  the  cure  of  the  fevers 
"  of  the  Weft  Indies,  and  perhaps  in  the  cure  of  the 
"  fevers  of  all  hot  climates.  Though  it  might  not  ab- 
"  folutely  cut  fhort  the  courfe  of  the  difeafe,  yet  it  fel- 
"  dom  failed  to  change  the  fatal  tendency  of  its  nature." 
Even  in  the  latt  ftage  of  the  yellow  fever,  where  the  pa- 
tient feems  at  the  utmoft  extremity,  our  author  tells  us 
that  he  has  alternately  employed  warm  and  cold  bathing 
with  the  greateft  fuccefs.  He  has  even  wrapped  the 
body  in  a  blanket  foaked  in  water  in  which  a  large  por- 
tion of  fait  had  been  diffolved,  or  which  had  been  fteep- 
ed  in  brandy  or  rum,  enjoining  the  liberal  ufe  of  wine, 
or  more  powerful  cordials.  Dr.  Wright  alfo  mentions 
the  cold  bath  with  approbation ;  but,  as  it  cannot  be  ve- 
ry generally  depended  upon,  its  ufe  ought  never  to  fu- 
peffede  that  of  other  remedies,  efpecially  mercury  ;  and 
indeed  *tvs  may  be  faid  of  every  th'ng  elfe  ;  for  though 
by  the  ufe  of  the  remedies  already  mentioned  the  difeafe 
has  fometimes  b<,en  fuhdued,  yet  the  fuccefs  has  never 
been  fo  great  bur  that  every  one  under  an  attack  of  the 
yellow  fever  muft  be  coufidered  as  in  very  corifiderable 
danger. 

In  the  ufe  of  cooling  medicines,  taken  internally,  we 
muft  have  a  particular  regard  to  the  ftate  of  the  ftomach, 
which  is  exceffively  irritable;  and  it  is  furpnflng  that 
this  irritability  is  of  fuch  a  nature  that,  though  it  will 
certainly  reject  the  mikleft  drinks  or  medicines,  it  may 
yet  retain  others  feemmgly  much  more  acrid,  as  has  al- 
ready been  obferved  in  the  cafe  of  Dr.  Sayres's  patients. 
AS  long  ago  as  the  time  of  Diemerbroeck  >i  folution  of 
common  fait  in  vinegar  was  recommended  in  the  plague. 
Since  that  time  it  has  been  found  extremely  ufeful  in  the 
cryfentery  ;  and,  as  in  this  difeafe  the  bowels  are  likewife 
man  extremely  irritable  ftate,  it  would  feem  from  ana- 
Jogy  that  the  fame  medicine  might  be  ufeful  alfo  in  the 
yellow  fever.  Dr.  Wright  of  Jamaica  (who  attefts  the 

efficacy 


THE  Y-ELLOW  FEVER.  53* 

efficacy  of  the  medicine  in  dyfentery,  belly-ach,  remit- 
tent fever,  and  putrid  fore  throat)  gives  the  following 
improved  method  of  preparing  it :  "  Take  of  lime  or 
cc  lemon  juice  three  ounces;  of  marine  fait  as  much  as 
"  the  acid  can  diffolve;  of  any  fimple  diftilled  cordial 
"  water  one  pint ;  and  of  loaf  fugar  a  fufficient  quan- 
"  tity  to  fweeten  it.  The  dofe  of  this  mixture  muft  be 
"  proportioned  to  the  age  and  fex  of  the  patient,  and  to 
"  the  violence  of  the  difeafe.  A  wine  glafsful  may  be 
"  given  to  adults  every  two,  four  or  fix  hours." 

8.  Medicines  proper  for  relieving  tfo  moft  urgent  fimp- 
toms  of  the  difeaje.  The  moft  diftrefling  fymptoms  at- 
tending the  yellow  fever  are,  head-ach,  vomiting,  pain 
in  the  ftomach,and  pains  in  the  back,  loins  and  limbs. 
Blifters  were  tried  by  Dr.  Chifholm  to  mitigate  the  pain 
in  the  head.  "  I  have  (fays  he)  bliftered  the  whole  head, 
"  and  the  infide  of  each  thigh,  at  once,  in  feveral  cafes, 
"  without  producing  the  leaft  change  in  that  or  any 
"  other  fymptom.  I  have  had  recourfe  to  this  remedy 
"  to  leffen  pain,  to  remove  irritability  of  the  ftomach, 
"  and  to  raife  the  vital  powers  in  the  low,  comatofe  ftage, 
"  but  always  except  in  two  cafes  without  fuccefs."  In 
one  a  blifter  to  the  fcrobiculus  cordis  completely  remo- 
ved the  irritability  ;  the  other  cafe  is  related  in  the  next 
fection.  Another  practitioner  found  a  blifter  applied  to 
the  forehead  of  remarkable  ufe  in  four  cafes;  but  Dr. 
Chifholm  fuppofes  them  to  have  been  of  the  lefs  violent 
kind.  Others  have  alfo  found  them  occafionally  ufeful; 
fo  that,  though  dependence  cannot  be  placed  upon 
thefe  remedies,  it  feems  improper  to  reject  them  entirely. 
But  the  moft  effectual  method  of  allaying  the  irritability 
of  the  ftoniach  was  by  the  exhibition  of  vitriolic  sether. 
Dr.  Chifholm  adopted  the  medicine  on  the  recommenda- 
tion of  M.  Poiflbnier,  and  found  it  to  anfwer  the  cha- 
racter given  of  it  by  him.  Dr.  Chifholm  gave  about  a 
tea  fpoonful  in  half  a  glafsful  of*  cool  water,  after  which 
the  patient  continued  undifturbed  about  two  hours,  when 
the  dofe  was  repeated.  Sometimes,  though  feldom,  the 
ftomach  was  thus  enabled  to  bear  the  bark,  but  other- 
wife  the  rether  was  given  every  three  hours.  If  the 

ftomach 


53*  A   TREATISE    ON 

ftomach  retained  the  bark  after  the  fir  ft  dofe,  tether  was 
then  given  only  once  in  five  or  fix  hours.  J£ther,  fays 
he,  given  in  the  manner  I  have  mentioned,  is  extremely- 
grateful  to  the  patient ;  it  occafionsan  agreeable  warmth 
along  the  oelophagus,  and  gently  ftimulates  the  ftomach. 
This  effect,  however,  does  not  continue  long  ;  but  the 
frequent  production  of  it  at  length  gives  it  permanency. 
It  appears  to  act  as  a  tonic,  an  antifeptic,  and  an  agree- 
able ftimulant ;  a  warm  glow  overfpreads  the  furface  ; 
and  thirft,  naufea  and  opprefiion,  often  have  fled  be- 
fore it. 

Thefe  are  the  remedies  moft  approved,  and  which  may 
with  moft  reafon  -be  expected  to  fucceed  in  the  cure  of 
the  difeafe,  where  it  is  within  the  power  of  medicine,  But 
there  are  certain  cafes  in  which  medicines  of  the  ordi- 
nary kind  cannot  act.  Sometimes,  at  the  very  beginning 
of  the  difeafe,  all  the  three  ftages  of  it  feem  to  commence 
at  once,  or  to  be  mingled  in  fuch  a  manner  that  medi- 
cines have  not  time  to  exert  their  force.  Again,  in  the 
laft  ftage,  Dr.  Jackfon  compares  the  attempts  to  overcome 
the  torpor  of  the  fyftem  by  medicine,  to  that  of  attempt* 
ing  to  revive  a  dead  corpfe.  "  I  have,  however  (fays  he) 
"Teen  inftances  of  fuch  unexpected  recoveries  from  the 
"  moft  hopelefs  ftate  in  fevers,  that  I  feldom  totally  def- 
"  pair  as  long  as  life  remains."  It  is  evident,  however, 
that  the  remedies  employed  muft  be  different,  according 
to  the  different  times  of  the  difeafe.  In  the  beginning 
it  is  probable  that  by  bleeding  to  an  extreme  degree, 
fothat  the  greater  part  of  the  mafs  of  blood  was  taken 
away,  the  difeafe  might  be  fubdued  at  once,  and  the 
patient  recover,  as  has  been  already  mentioned  of  the 
plague,  p.  363.  But  the  idea  of  death  feems  to  be  fo 
firmly  connected  in  the  human  mind  with  the  lofs  of  a 
great  quantity  of  blood,  that  very  little  hopes  can  be  en- 
tertained of  any  good  being  done  in  this  way.  It  feems 
indeed  owing  to  this  invincible  affociation  of  ideas  that 
the  enemies  of  Dr.  Rufh  have  found  means  to  load  him 
fo  much  and  fo  undefervedly  with  reproach.  Another 
method,  lefs  exceptionable,  though  probably  alfo  lefs  effi- 
cacious, is  by  injections  into  the  veins.  But  what  are  we 

to 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER.  533 

to  inject  ?  Here,  to  the  difgrace  of  experimenters,  let  it 
be  recorded,  that  fuch  has  been  their  innate  propenfity 
to  cruelty,  that  though  we  know  a  number  of  fubftances 
which,  injected  into  the  veins  of  an  animal,  will  certainty 
lull  it,  yet  we  fcarce  know  one  which  can  be  injected 
with  even  a  -probability  of  doing  good.  In  the  Medical 
Extracts  indeed  we  find  it  related  that  at  Guadaloupe  a 
phyfician  had  cured  the  moil  inveterate  difeafes  by  in- 
jecting certain  remedies  into  the  veins.  But  what  thefe 
remedies  were  we  know  not.  In  the  fame  paragraph  in- 
deed it  is  faid  that  alarming  fyrnptoms  from  the  bite  of 
a  viper  were  removed  by  injecting  diluted  /pint  of  hartf- 
horn  into  the  blood.  As  the  bite  of  a  viper  is  attended 
with  a  diflfolution  of  the  jMood,  and  yellownefs  of  the 
fkin,  we  may  thence  derive  fome  faint  hope  that  fuch  an 
injection  might  alfo  be  ufeful  in  defperate  cafes  of  the 
yellow  fever  5  but,  till  further  experiments  are  made,  we 
can  fay  nothing  more  on  the  fubject. 

Laftly,  when  the  difeafe  has  proceeded  fo  far  that  the 
blood  flows  out  from  all  parts  of  the  body,  and  it  is  evi- 
dent that  the  patient  muft  die  were  it  only  from  the  loft 
of  that  fluid,  then,  if  ever,  the  once  celebrated  remedy 
€>f  the  transfufion  of  blood  may  be  of  ufe.  An  account 
of  this  remedy  has  been  given  in  the  former  part  of  this 
work.  It  muft  be  evident  that  human  blood  ought  to 
be  preferred  to  that  of  a 'brute  creature ;  but  the  danger 
incurred  by  one  who  iliould  lofe  a  quantity  of  blood  fo 
near  to  a  perfon  capable  of  giving  the  febrile  infection 
muft  certainly  be  very  great.  Neverthelefs,  there  are 
cafes  in  which  the  death  of  a  beloved  object  infpires 
more  horror  than  the  thoughts  of  any  perfonal  danger, 
or  even  death  itfelf,  to  the  perfon  who  beholds  it.  In  fuck 
cafes  no  doubt  there  are  many  that  would  run  all  rifks ; 
and,  mould  any  cafe  prove  fuccefsful,  no  doubt  the 
perfcm  who  had  the  courage  to  make  the  experiment 
would  find  ample  recompenfe  in  faving  a  perfon  he  lov- 
ed from  death,  and  in  eftablifhing  a  truth  of  fuch  .im- 
portance to  the  world  in  general.*  SFCTTOM 

*  From  the  accounts  of  the  rnoft  eminent  praflitioners  it  appears  that  th« 
fiver  of  1798  differed  considerably  in  its  nature  from  that  of  1795.     Jn  Phila- 
delphia 


534  A   TREATISE    ON 

SECTION    IV. 

Remarkable  Cafes. 

SO  many  cafes  have  been  enumerated  in  the  courfe  of 
this  work,  that  little  more  remains  to  be  done  io 
that  way.  The  following  are  given,  not  merely  on  ac- 
count of  their  Angularity,  or  to  give  inftances  of  furpri- 
iing  and  unexpected  recovery,  but  to  elucidate  fome 
points  of  doctrine  hinted  at  before,  and  not  fufficiently 


tfelphia  particularly  there  were  many  cafes  that  could  not  bear  the  ftroke  of 
a  lancet.  In  Bofton  it  fecms  to  have  partaken  more  of  the  nature  of  the  true 
plague  than  in  other  places  and  other  years.  The  difTecttons  of  Drs.  Rand 
and  Warren  manifeft  a  difference  between  the  effeds  of  it  on  the  body  at  that 
time,  and  what  they  were  in  former  years.  Buboes,  carbuncles,  or  what  were 
thought  to  be  fo,  and  petechia?,  were  obferved  here,  at*  well  as  in  New  York. 
One  remarkable  cafe,  related  in  the  next  fecVion,  (hows  a  difpofnion  to  ind*~ 
-rathn^  very  uncommon  in  the  yellow  fever,  though  fo  common  in  the  true 
plague  that  in  the  former  part  of  this  trcatife  it  is  taken  for  the  chara&eriltic 
mark  of  the  difeafe.  None  of  thof*  efchars  called  token*,  however*  were  in 
any  cafe  obferved.  The  difeafe  here  bore  bleeding  much  better  than  at  Phi- 
ladelphia ;  but  mercury  was  always  the  moft  efficacious  remedy,  where  a  fa- 
Jivatiou  could  be  raifed  The  warm  bath  was  uleU  ia  fome  cafes  with  fuccefs* 
Large  evacuations  were  ufeful,  and  fome  patients  bore  three  or  four  bleedings* 
•with  repeated  dofes  of  jalap  and  calomel.  The  ditiemper  is  by  one  gentleman 
ftyled  a  novel  difeafe,  and  differing  etlcntia-lly  from  other  bilious  complaints. 
2n  one  cafe  the  patient  died  of  apoplexy  ;  and  another  would  probably  have 
ihared  the  fame  fate,  had  it  not  been  for  timely  bleeding.  The  black  vomit 
was  almoft  inevitably  attended  with  death.  The  matter  evacuated  was 
thought  to  be  extra  vafated  blood  from  veffels  in  fome  cafes  mortified.  The 
yellow  colour  was  judged  merely  accidental  ;  but  Dr.  Lind's  opinion  of  its 
arifmg  from  a  diflblution  of  the  blood  feems  now  to  be  universally  abandoned, 
and  the  colour  is  fuppofed  to  arife  from  a  fuifufion  of  bile,  owing  either  tc» 
the  obftru&ron  of  the  dudls,  or  too  great  fecretiofl. 

The  names  of  the  gentlemen  upon  whole  authority  the  above  fa^s  ftand; 
cannot  be  mentioned,  as  permiffion  for  fo  doing  has  not  been  obtained.  Their 
authenticity,  however,  can  be  prov&d  by  undeniable  documents. 

The  origin  of  the  fever  at  Bofton  ha:>,  as  ufual,  been  difyuied  ;  but  the  com- 
Tiion  opinion  is  that  it  was  generated.  It  now  appears,  however,  that,  though 
there  are  very  ftrotig  reaibns  for  fuppofoig.  it  to  have  originated  in  the  place, 
there  are  others  equally  ftrong  for  believing  that  it  was  imported.  It  is  af- 
certained  thai  a  velfel  OH  board  which  perfons  had  died  with  the  yellow  fever 
Jay  in  the  neighbourhood  ef  the  family  ftrft  leixed  with  the  diieafe  in  1798*. 
On  the  other  hand,  there  were  inftances  of  many  that  were  fciz^d  with  the 
diftemper  who  had  not  even  left  their  houfes  for  months  previous  to  the  con- 
tagious period.  This  year  (1799)  there  have  been  unqueftionable  proofs  of 
the  importation  of  the  fever  from  the  Havana.  The  quarantine*  however* 
J»as  kept  the  infection  from  fpreading;  though  the  ftate  of  the  atmofpher* 
Jias  been  much  lefs  favourable  to  the  difeafe  than  laft  year»  and  his  there- 
fare  no  doubt  contributed  to  prefer  ve  the  health  of  the  people* 

Vt* 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER. 


535 


i.  Spontaneous  burning.  In  the  former  part  of  this 
treatife  feveral  extraordinary  inftances  of  this  kind  are 
given  ;  but  a  doubt  was  fuggefted  whether  the  fire  was 

produced 

We  have  been  favoured  with  the  following  lift  of  thofe  afFeSed  with  the 
difeafe  this  year  at  ilewburyport : 


When  taken. 
Oflytaway     June  28. 
March  28. 

Sol.  Haflcel     July  j. 
His  nephew  4- 

Duggins  5. 

Tho's  Norwood  6. 

Tho's  Nor'd  jun.  6 

Robert  Lord  6. 

Stephen  Tilton  6. 

Paine  7. 

Herbert  7. 

Walleigh  7. 

Mifs  Dole  9. 

Sally  Wood  10 

James  Wood          xi. 

Widow  Waite        n. 
Wm.  Thompfon    n 

Jona.  Pearfon        13. 

Danl.  Favour  jun.  15 
Goodhue  15. 

Rev.  Mr.  Milton  15. 
Mary  Dunn  15. 

Giles  Parfons        16. 


Sol.  Currier 
Sam.  Currier 
Creaty 
Mrs.  Wood 
Sally  Edwards 

Her  brother 


1-6. 
18. 

19. 
r9. 


Remarks. 

A  feaman  on  board  the  veflel. 
do. 

On  board  while  her  cargo  was  difcharging,  &c. 

do. 

JPrefent  when  the  ballaft  was  thrown  out,  atfb 
I  on  board. 

}  Worked  in  a  hatter's  friop  about  16  rods  from  the 
£  veflel  when  graving,  the  wind  blowing  all  or 
)  moft  of  the  time  from  the  veflel  towards  the  {hop* 

Worked  on  the  wharf  where  the  veflel  was  hauled  in. 

Loaded  and  flowed  the  veflel  for  another  outward 
bound  voyage.  Thefe  men  lived  at  Amelbury. 

Worked  in  a  tailor's  {hop,  by  Norwood's  hatter's 

do  [(hop. 

r  Along  fide  the  veflel,    and  filled    the    old   bread 

1     caflcs  for  her  outward  voyage.  He  alfo  lived  neas 

(      the  wharf. 

C  Doubtful  whether  her  diforder  was  the  fever.  Lrv« 
{  ed  at  the  bottom  of  the  wharf. 

<  Lived  at  the  bottom  of  the  wharf,  &  was  along 
}      tide  of  the  veflel. 

I  Kept  a  ftoie  near  the  wharf,  &  was  along  fide 
{  the  veflel. 

Worked  near  the  bottom  of  the  wharf. 

On  board  tke  fchooner,  and  trimmed  the  fugar  cafks. 

Vifited  thefick  at  Norwood's. 

Lived  at  Norwood's. 

<  Handled    the    bags  of  money    that  came  in  the 
}      veflel,  and  counted  it.  Was  along  fide  of  the  vefleJU 

On  board  the  fchooner.   Helped  to  haul  her  in. 
On  board.    Helped  to  difcharge  the  ballaft. 
On  board  when  the  veflel  was  difcharging  her  carga, 
Widow  of  James  Woodi  above  mentioned. 
Lived  with  Jamos  Woed. 

Lived  oppou'te,  &  often  in,  Wood's  houfe  during 
the  ficknefs. 


*Ibofe  marked  -whb  after  ijks  recovered. 


«»  The  fever  unequivocally  the  fame  which  prevailed  in  this  town  In  1796* 
«*  and  in  Bofton  and  Portfmouth  the  laft  fummer. 

«'  The  veflel  fuppofed  to  have  introduced  the  difeafe  was  the  fchooner 
««  Sa!ly»  jofeph  Gunnifon  matter,  which  arrived  at  Bartlett's  wharf  on  the 
«'  morning  or  the  agth  of  June  laft,  after  a  pafiage  of  18  days,  from  St.  Tho- 
44  rnas's  where  the  yellow  fever  prevailed  and  was  very  mortal,  with  17 
«*  tierces  of  lugar,  and  ca(h  in  bags.  She  difcharged  her  cargo  before  one 
4«  o'clock  on  the  day  of  her  arrival.  In  the  fame  afternoon  her  ftone  ballaft, 
«»  taken  on  board  at  St.  Thomas's»  was  thrown  on  deck.  On  the  firft  of  July 
«»  (he  was  moved  to  a  wharf  10  rods  below,  and  her  ballaft  was  thrown  on  a 
««  pier  wholly  covered  with  water.  This  ballaft  was  covered  with  a  vifcous 
«  iubftance,  which  adhered  to  the  fingers,  and  was  very  offenfive  to  the  peo- 


5.36  A   TREATISE   ON 

produced  internally ',  or  externally.  The  following  ac- 
count, from  the  Medical  Extracts,  determines  the  mat- 
ter. The  circumftance  took  place  in  England,  in  the 
year  1613,  One  Hitchill,  a  carpenter,  came  home  from 
his  work  as  ufual,  without  being  fenfible  of  any  indifpo- 
fition,  and  went  to  bed.  In  the  night  time,  or  early  in 
the  morning,  his  wife  awaked  and  found  him  dead  by  her 
fide.  His  body  was  fo  hot  that  it  could  not  be  touch- 
ed, and  he  continued  burning  internally  for  three  days. 
No  flame  appeared  on  the  outfide,  only  an  hot  fleam  if- 
ibed  from  his  body ;  and  we  are  not  told  what  was  the 
ultimate  effect  of  the  fire,  or  whether  his  body  was  con- 
fumed  to  allies  or  not.  In  the  fame  work  we  are  told  of 
a  woman  who  was  found  dead  in  her  room  in  the  morn- 
ing, and  confumed  to  allies,  her  very  bones  being  calci- 
ned to  whitencfs.  The  floor  on  which  me  lay  was  very 
little  burned.  This  laft  cafe,  however,  is  not  fo  directly 
in  point  as  the  former,  which  feems  decifive  with  regard 
to  the  internal  origin  of  the  fire. 

2.  M. 

««  pie  working  on  the  pier.  On  the  fame  day  me  was  hauled  in  between  the 
«»  two  wharves,  and  gravedi  and  removed  back  to  Bartjett's  wharf,  where  (he 
«•  was  loaded  with  lumber  for  another  voyage,  on  which  (he  failed  the 
«  i  ith  of  July. 

«  It  is  ftili  queftioned  whether  this  fever  was  imported,  or  generated  in  the 
«•  town.  You  will  find  that  all  who  have  had  it  have  be«nconneded  with  that 
•«  vefiel.  or  lived  or  worked  near  where  (he  lay,  or  vifited  the  Tick  near  the  place 
"  where  the  vellel  was  graved.  And  undoubtedly  there  were  many  perfons 
«  alike  connecled  and  firuated  who  did  not  take  it,  although  the  inhabitants 
**  living  near  the  wharf  very  foon  moved  away.  It  is  laid  that  there  is  an  ol<i 
•i  diftil-houie  near  the  bottom  of  the  wharf,  which  has  not  been  ufed  tor 
«»  many  years,  and  that  the  tubs  and  cifterns  are  replete  with  putrid  exhala- 
«»  tions.  I  do  not  know  that  this  fa&  has  been  verified.  It  is  aiib  faid  that 
««  back  of  the  ftore  uled  by  the  deceafed  Jonathan  Pearibn>  were  brewers',  foap 
4*  boilers'  and  tallow-chandlers'  works  which  had  aU  been  ufed  in  the  la(U 
*«  i'pring.  This  is  true  ;  but  I  do  not  know  that  it  is  evident  that  any  putrid 
«*  fubftances  were  formed  there.  Dr.  Vergnies  informs  me  that  there  was  one 
««  cafe  ot  the  yellow  lever  2  days  before  the  veflTel  arrived.  In  my  mind  the 
«»  weight  of  evidence  in  favour  of  the  importation  greatly  preponderates.  In 
**  1796  the  evidence  was  very  unequivocal  that  the  fever  was  generated. 

««  Juft  before  the  veflel  arrived  we  had  fome  very  warm  weather,  and  the 
"  heat  was  oppreflive  to  the  feelings.  The  thermometer  two  afternoons  was 
•«  at  90  deg  Perhaps  it  may  not  be  unufeful  to  mention  that  calomel  was 
«•  given  liberally.  All  who  recovered  were  falivated.  All  who  could  not  be 
««  falivated  died:  and  unfortunately  fome  who  were  evidently  falivated  died. 
««  Since  forming  rny  table  I  find  that  a  Mrs.  Plummer  who  lived  near  th« 
»«  wharf  will  die.*  Her  cafe  for  the  firft  fcvcn  days  was  fuppo&d  to  be  an 
«« intermirent  fever ;  then  it  aflumed  the  fymptoms  ot  the  yellow  fever.  Site 
«»  was  taken  an  the  nth  July. 

"  *  This  patient  is  now  dead  ^' 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER.  537 

2.  M.  D'ObfonviHis  cafe  of  the  plagtte.     In  the  for- 
mer part  of  this  treatiie  it  has  been   find   that   heat   de- 
ftroyed  the  plague  ,  but,  on  the  authority  of  the  Ruffi  n 
phyficians,  that  the  difeafe  could  not  be  treated    in  hot 
rooms.     The  following  cafe,  however,  Ihows  that  even 
expofure  to  a  burning  fun  in  a  defert,  to  the  cold  air  of 
night,  and  to  the  mod  injurious  ufage,  cannot  always 
render  fatal  an  attack  even  of  the  moft  dreadful  diftern- 
per  in  the  world.     M.  D'Obibnville   had   undertaken  a 
journey  over  land  to  the  Eaft  Indies,  in  order  to  execute 
an  important  commiffion  from  the  French  government, 
in  1761,  the  very  time  when  the  plague  raged  violently 
in  the  eaft.       He  defcribes  his  cafe  in   the  following 
words :  <k  1  felt  the  firft  fymptoms  of  the  plague  two  fmall 
"  days  journey  from  Aleppo,  when  I  had   entered  the 
'c  defert  j   and  at  night,  when  going  to  reft,  complained 
**  of  a  general  uneafinefs  and  heavinefs  of  the  head.     In 
"  the  morning  the  fever  was  known  to  be  inflammato- 
"  ry  j  and  from  that  time  I  had   no  longer  any  fleep. 
"  The  third,  the  fever  and  head-ach  became  more  vio- 
''  lent,  two  buboes  began  to  rife  on  my  left   fide,   my 
'''  tongue  was  fwelled,  and  of  a  brown  violet  colour.    The 
"  fourth  and  fifth  days,  fores  began  to  appear  on  my 
"  loins,  the  fpine  of  my  back,  and  the  fcrotum ;    fome 
"  of  which  were  as  large  as  the  palm  of  my  hand,  and 
>c  their  colour  at  firft  was  a  red  purple.     I  was  obliged, 
c  however,  to  rife,  like  other  paff  ngers,  at  two  in  the 
"  morning,  and  travel  on  horfeback  till  eleven.     Unable 
ic  to  fwallow  any  thing  but  a  little  water,  abandoned  by 
:c  my  Chriftian  fervant,  who  durft   not  come  near  me, 
tc  and  attended  by  an  Arab,  that  1  could  not  underftand, 
;c  the  violence  even  of  my  illnefs,  and  a  little  fortitude, 
:t  had    hitherto  contributed   to  fupport  mej    but  my 
>s  weaknefs  increafed  hourly,  and  1  could   no  longer  fit 
my  horfe,  when  an  Armenian  lady,  named  Tcheremani, 
''  determined  to  ride  him  herfelf,  and  with  the  utmoft 
'  humanity  gave  up  her  camel  to  me,  on   which  was  a 
'  kind  of  litter.     On  the  fixth  day   the  fymptoms  all 
>s  appeared  aggravated  ;    at  one  moment  my  pulfe  beat 
i;  v/ith  an  aftonifliing  quicknefs,  and  fire  feemed  to  run 

Z  z  z 


538  A    TREATISE    ON 

"  through  my  veins ;  and  the  next,  my  blood  was  5n- 
"  tercepted  in  its  courfe,  a  moifture  covered  my  fore- 
;<  head,  and  1  felt  myfelf  fainting,  though  without  being 
"  delirious,  or  lofing  my  fenfes." 

The  caravan  having  arrived  at  a  fmall.  ruined  village 
named  Soccun,  in  the  defert,  it  was  refolved  to  leave  M. 
D'Obfonville  to  his  fate,  his  cafe  being  confidered  as  def- 
perate  ;  and  indeed  he  fays  he  was  left  alone  at  his  own  re- 
queft.     A  fmall  horde  of  Arabs  relided  in  that  village, 
though  ruined,  and  our  patient  was  configned  to  the  care 
of  a  religious  perfon  called  zmoullak.  This  gentleman,  like 
too  many  others,  did  not  choofe  to  [ewe  God  for  nought ', 
and  therefore  demanded  fifty  piaftres  in  filver,   beiides 
fome  effects,  in  recompenfe  for  the  charity  which  he  was 
about  to  extend  to  the  unhappy  traveller.     Having  re- 
ceived thofe,  and  the  caravan  being  gone,    the  moullah 
and  his  wife  in  the  night  time  laid  M.  D'Obfonviile 
acrofs  an  afs,  and  carried  him  about  a  mile  into  the  de- 
fert, where  they  left  him  to  fhift  for  himfelf.     Happily, 
however,  either  through  accident  or  defign,  thefe  religious 
devils  had  depofited  their  prey  near  fome  water,  which 
undoubtedly,  as  he  dill  retained  his  fenfes,  was  the  means 
of  preferving  his  life.     "  It  was  there  (fays  he)  that,  ex- 
"  tended  upon  the  earth,  with  no  other  fiiccour  than  a 
"  little  water,  nature  laboured  to  expel   the  poifon  by 
"  which  I  was  opprefTed.     One  of  the   buboes  burft  of 
"  itfelf  j  the  peftilential  fores,  which  appeared  firft  of  a 
"'  red  purple,  became  yellowiih,  then  brown,   and  laftly 
"  black.     Thefe  parts  then  becoming  gangrenous,  form- 
"  ed  hard  and  thick  fcabs,  which,  kernelling  and  falling 
"  away  from  the  quick  fiefh,  left  very  deep  ulcers.    This 
"  was  the  fird  epocha  of  health  ;  an  abundant  fuppura- 
"  tion  began,  and    the  fever  almoft  immediately  left 


me." 


Having  remained  alone  in  the  defert  for  eight  or  ten 
days,  he  was  found  by  chance  by  fome  Arabian  women, 
who  brought  him  to  their  place  of  rciklence,  wafhed  his 
fores  with  water,  brought  him  dried  herbs  for  his  bed, 
and  gave  him  barley  bread,  butter  and  curds  for  his 
food )  endeavouring  beiides  by  their  fongs  to  comfort 

him. 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER. 

Iilm,  and  alleviate  his  diftrefs  as  much  as  poffible.  With 
thefe  women  he  remained  twenty  days,  reduced  to  an 
extremity  of  weaknefs  by  reafon  of  the  difcharge  from 
the  fores.  At  lad,  having  learnt  a  few  Arabic  words,  he 
prevailed  upon  two  of  the  hufbands  to  conduct  him  to 
Aleppo,  about  feven  days  journey  diftant.  He  was  now 
mounted  aftride  on  a  camel  (a  very  hard  trotting  ani- 
mal) and  by  forced  marches  accomplifhed  the  journey 
infix  days,  when  he  appeared  before  the  conful,  the 
European  marchants,  and  a  crowd  of  people,  in  a  condi- 
tion without  example  ;  almoft  naked,  with  five  running 
buboes,  the  little  covering  he  had  foul,  infe&ed  with 
ulcers  as  long  as  the  palm  of  the  hand,  which  had  eaten 
away  the  flefli,  and  in  fome  places  difcovered  the  bones, 
having  befides  two  holes  in  the  fcrotum.  From  this 
miferable  condition  he  recovered  in  a  month.  It  would 
feem  that  in  fome  cafes  the  human  body,  as  well  as  mind, 
rifes  fuperior  to  every  indignity  ;  and  that  in  proportion 
to  the  degree  of  injury  and  opprefiion  is  the  tenacity  of 
life,  as  well  as  energy  of  fpirit. 

3 .  Remarkable  cure  of  the  plague  by  expofure  to  cold  and 
ivet.     M.  Savary  relates  that  the  captain  of  a  veffel  in- 
formed  him   that,   having    touched  at   Conftantinople 
when  the  plague  was  raging  there,  fome  of  his  failors 
caught  the  diftemper ;    two  died  fuddenly,  and  by  af- 
iifting  them  he  was  infected.     "  I  felt  exceflive  heat 
"  (fays  he)  which  made  my  blood  boil ;  the  difeafe  feized 
"  my  head,  and  I  perceived  that  I  had  only  a  few  mo- 
"  ments  to  live.     The   little  remaining  reafon  I  had 
"  taught  me  to  attempt  an  experiment.     I  laid  myfelf, 
"  quite  naked,  all  night  on  the  deck  -5  the  heavy  dews 
"  that  fell  penetrated  to  my  very  bones ;  in  a  few  hours 
"  I  could  breathe  freer,  and  ray  head  was  better  ;    my 
"  agitated  blood  became  calm,  and,  bathing  the  morning 
"  after  in  the  fea,  1  was  perfectly  cured." 

4.  Extraordinary  effeft  of  FEAR  in  rendering  the  con- 
tagion of  the  SMALL  POX  effeftual*     "  A  very  beauti- 
"  ful  girl,  twenty-five  years  of  age,  fervant  to  captain 
4*  Morton,  had  never  had  the  fmall  pox,  and  had  the 

"  moft 

9  Haygar&'s  Sketch,  vol.  ii,  p.  405. 


:< 


540  A    TREATISE  ON 

"  mod  dreadful  apprehenfions  of  that  difeafe.     On  the 
"  twentieth  of  Januarv,  1791,  about  four  in  the  after- 
*'  noon,  flie  was  (landing   near  the  kitchen   fire,  when 
;c  a  joiner  in  the  neighbourhood  came  to  the  door,  which 
:c  is  about  fixteen  feet  from  the  fire  place  where  the  girl 
<c  ftood.     Mrs.  Morton  found  fault  with  the  man  for 
"  not  coming  fooner  to  finim  fome   work,  and   he   ex- 
<c  cufed  himfelf  by  faying  his  apprentice  was  ill   of  the 
:c  fmall  pox,  which  had  delayed  him.     The  girl  imme- 
<c  diately  clafped  her  hands,  and  exclaimed,  God  forgive 
**  you,  but  I  will  lay  my  death  to  you.    From  that  mo- 
ment (lie  became  chilly,  then  hot   and   reftlefs.     She 
pafil-d  a  very  bad  night,  frequently  exclaiming,   God 
*c  forgive  Caider,  he  has  killed   me  ;    meaning  he  had 
<c  given  her   the  final!    pox.     In  the   morning  of  the 
"  twenty-ill  (I  I  was  fent  for,  and  found  her  very  hot,  with 
*'  a  quick  pulfe,  great  ficknefs  and  anxiety.    I  ordered  her 
"  an  emetic,  and  aflured  her  flic  did  not  need  to  be  in 
"  the  leaft  alarmed,   as  file   could    not    poffibly    have 
"  caught  the  difeafe.     She  iecmed  to  be  convinced  that 
**  her  fears  were  ground  leis ;   but  next  day,  the  twenty- 
"  fecond,  a  violent  rafli  appeared  ;    on  the  twenty-third 
"  the  fmall  pox  came  out,  of  the  word  kind  I  had  ever 
<c  feen,  and  flie  died  on  the  ninth  day  from  the  eruption." 
5.  Inefficacy  if  FEAR  to  render  the  contagion  of  \  EL- 
LOW   FEVER  effectual.     Dr.  Rufh  mentions  a  young 
woman  fo  exceedingly  fearful  of  the  difeafe,  that  (lie  was 
troublefonie  to  all  around  her.      Afterwards  (he  hap- 
pened to  be  under  the  neceffity  of  attending  Jeven  per- 
fons  ill  of  the  fever,    and  yet  efcaped   unhurt.     This 
(hows  that  fear  (and  the  fame  may  be  laid  of  any  pre- 
difpofing  caufc)  is  not  always  fuificient  to  produce  the 
difeafe.      The   foregoing  cafe  is  fo  extraordinary  that 
Dr    HUygarth  is  of  opinion  that  the  patient  muft  have 
been  previoufly  infected  ;    but  of  this  there  is  no  evi- 
dence ;  and  it  is  bad  reafoning  to  endeavour  to  eftablifli 
a  fact  by  our  own  ignorance.     The  only  argument  that 
is  or  can  be  ufcd  in  fiich  cafes  is,  "  I  cannot  underftand 
how  fuch  a  thing  could  have  happened,   therefore  it  has 
not  been  fo." 

6. 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER,  54* 

6.  "Boullam  fe-ver  cured  by  a  blifter*     The  patient  was 
a  tradefman  in  St.  George's,  Grenada,  and  had  "  all  the 
*'  fymptoms  of  the  difeife  except  the  febrile  heat.     A 
*'  blifter  was  applied  between  the  moulders,  without  ad- 
*c  miaiftering  any  medicine  previoufly  except  .the  folu- 
<c  tion  (mentioned  p.  530)  which  operated  very  mode* 
<c  rately.     The  effect  WAS  wonderful ;  the  difcharge  was 
"  uncommonly  large,  blavk,  and  foetid  in  an  intolerable 
"  degree;    and  the  indent  this  took  place  the  patient 
<£  became  better;  and  fooo  ifter,  without  the  ufeof  any 
€t  other  remedy,  recovered." 

7 .  Yello w  fever  of  Birbadoes  cured  fa  vomiting .  «j»    The 
patient  was  a  young  man,  about  twenty-four  years  of 
age,  furgeon  to  a  Guinea  (hip.  Being  a  lover  of  fpiritous 
liquors,  he  had  been  drunk  three  days  and  nights  fuccef- 
lively,  and  in  that  condition  had  run  races  with  the  fai- 
lors  on  the  fhore,  in  the  heat  of  the  mid  day  fun.     The 
lad  night  he  ilept  in  the  open  air  under  a  tamarind  tree, 
and  in  the  morning  was  feized  with  the  fever,  attended 
with  the  mod  violent  reaching  to  vomit,  infomuch  that 
lie  could  fcarcely  anfwer  yes  or  no  to  the  questions  afked 
him  by  the  Doctor.     Sixteen  ounces  of  blood  were  taken 
away,  which  was  very  florid,  thin  and  difiblved.    He  was 
directed  then  to  drink  warm  water  to  cleanfe  his  ftomach, 
which  he  did  to  the  amount  of  three  gallons,  which  he 
difcharged,  together  with  immenfe  quantities  of  yellow 
and  blackifh  bilious  matter.     He  then  took  a  grain  and 
an  half  of  opium,  and  ilcpt  fomc  hours,  after  which  a 
dole  of  manna  and  tamarinds  carried  off  by  ftool  a  good 
deal  more  of  bilious  matter,  and,  with  the  help  of  fomc 
elixir  of  vitriol,  mint  and  fnakeroot  tea,  he  recovered  in 
a  (hort  time. 

Dr.  Rufh,  in  a  letter  publifhed  in  the  neivfpapers 
lad  year,  after  regretting  the  inefficacy  of  bleeding  and 
purging,  fufpects  "  that  death  occurred  from  thcftagna- 
**  tion  of  acrid  bile  in  the  gail-bladder,  or  its  adherence 
"  to  the  upper  bowels,  as  mentioned  by  Dr.  Mitchell 
"in  1 741,  "which  he  propofes  to  evacuate  by  drong 

emetics 

**  Chiflwlm's  Effayi  p.  1*9.  i  Hillary's  Obfervations>  p.  37^. 


542  A    TREATISE    ON 

emetics  and  purgatives,  fo  as  to  occafion  an  artificial 
cholera  morbus ;  and  he  greatly  commends  this  mode 
of  practice.  "  Vomits  (fays  he)  are  old  remedies  in  the 
**  yellow  fever  of  the  Weft  Indies.  I  gave  them  on  the 
"  firft  day  of  the  difeafe  in  the  year  i793>  and  always 
"  without  fuccefs.  They  uniformly  did  harm  when 
"  given  in  the  beginning  of  the  fever  in  its  worft  grade, 
wTn  1797.  The  reafon  of  this  failure  in  their  efficacy 
"  I  now  perceive  was  becaute  they  were  given  before,  the 
<c  violent  morbid  action  in  the  fyftem  was  reduced  or 
"  moderated  by  bleeding  and  purging.  After  this- 
"  change  is  introduced  in  the  difeafe  they  are  perfectly 
ce  fafe.  The  time  for  exhibiting  them  (houid  be  regu- 
€C  1'ated  by  the  pulfe  and  other  fymptoms.  In  moderate 
**  cafes  of  the  fever  they  are  as  proper  in  its  firft  ftage. 
"  as  on  the  4th  day*  As  there  is  a  bliftering  point  in  all 
*c  fevers,  fo  there  'appears  to  be  an  emetic  point  in  the 
"•  yellow  fever.  It  may  occur  on  the  fecond,  and  it 
c<  may  be  protracted  to  the  fixth  or  feventh  day  of  the 
*c  difeafe.  I  have  not  given  the  medicine  I  have  men- 
"•  tioned  in  any  cafe  where  the  patient  complained  of 
"•  pain  or  burning  in  the  ftomach  ;  but  I  have  confidered 
«  a  naufea,  and  a  moderate  degree  of  puking,  as  no  ob- 
"  ftacle  to  its  ufe  ;  for  Dr.  Phyfic  has  taught  me  by  his 
"  diffections  that  thefe  fymptoms  may  exift  without  the 
"  leaft  inflammation  in  the  ftomach,  and  that  they  have 
«  been  abfent  where  the  ftomach  has  appeared  after 
a  death  to  have  been  highly  inflamed . 

"  The  cure  of  the  fever  ihould  not  reft  upon  a  fingle 
•*  dofe  of  the  medicine.  I  have  given  two  dofes  of  it  io 
"  a  day  in  feveral  cafes,  and  have  given  it  in  one  cafe 
"  every  day  for  three  fucceflive  days. 

"  It  has  often  been  rem-arfeed,  that  no  two  epidemics 
"  are  exactly  alike.  They  vary  not  only  in  different 
"  climates,  but  in  the  fame  climate  in  different  years. 
"  They  even  vary  with  the  changes  of  the  weather  in  the 
"famcfeafon.  The  fever  of  1797  differed  in  fevera* 
"  particulars  from  the  fever  of  1793  ;  and  the  psefenfc 
«  epidemic  differs  materially  from  both.  In  many  of 
"  the  cafes  I  have  feen  it  qxceeds  the  fever  of  laft  year  ^n 

w  its 


THE  YELLOW  FEVER.  543 

its  malignity.      Thefe  variations  in  difeafes  call  for 
correfponding  changes  in  our  practice." 
8.  Extraordinary  cafe  of  yellow  fever  at  Rofton  in  1 798. 
The  fubject  of  it*  was  a  female  of  about  24  years  of 
age,  in  the  9th  month  of  pregnancy.     I  faw  her  on 
Monday  the  1 7th  of  September.   She  had  then  a  fmaU 
but  painful  hardnefs  on  the  left  parotid  gland,  which 
had  commenced  fome  days  before,  and  foon  extended 
to  the  lips  and  neighbouring  parts.    The  centre  of  the 
tumour  refembled   that  of  the  incifion   of  an   arm 
about  the  time  of  the  eruption  of  the  fmall   pox 
after  inoculation,  exhibiting  a  hard,  florid,  (hining 
appearance.      I  recommended    an    emollient   poul- 
tice, hoping  to   procure  fuppuration  ;    but,  though 
they  were   repeated  fteadily,  not  the  lead  evidence 
of  matter  could   be  produced  ;    and   upon  each  vi- 
fit  I  found  the  tumour  had  extended  in  a  rapid  and 
formidable  degree.     I  was  called  up  in  the   courfe  of 
the  night  to  her,  and  found  her  almofl  fuffocated  from 
the  preflure  of  the  tumour  on  the  trachea  ;  for  it  had 
now  extended  itfelf  to  all  the  mufcles  and  glands  of 
the  neck  and  face.    I  changed  the  poultice  for  an  em- 
brocation of  the  faturnine  preparations,  which  were  re- 
peated till  about  10  o'clock  of  the  following  morning, 
when  (he  was  taken  in  travail,  and  foon  delivered  of 
a  healthy  male  child.     For  a  few  hours  after  her  de- 
livery (he  appeared  fomething  better,  but  in  the  night 
<c  flie  grew  worfe,  and  about  12  o'clock  I  was  called  to 
"  her,  when  (he  appeared  to  be  expiring.    At  the  requeft 
"  of  her  friends  I  entered  my  lancet  into  the  tumour 
<c  the  length  of  the  inftrument  -,   but,  as  I  had  expect- 
"  ed,  not  the  lead  particle  of  matter  flowed,  and  the 
"  parts  were  as  hard  as  a  fchirrus.     She  continued  how- 
"  ever  in  agony  till  3  o'clock  of  the  day,  and  then 
"  expired." 

9.  Two  cafes  of  fpontaneous  origin  of  yellow  fever :  from 
the  Medical  Repofitory,  vol.  ii,  p.  333.  "  At  Salem 
"  (Mailachufetts)  there  was  a  general  prevalence  of 

"  health 

*  The  attending  phyfician's,  name  is  not  mentioned*  having  no  permiffioa 
to  do  ib. 


<e 


A    TREATISE 

*'  health  at  that  feafon  ;  though  feveral  cafes  of  yellow 
ec  fever,  and  fome  of  them  fatal  ones,  occurred.  Dr. 
"  Oliver  very  judicioufly  inclines  to  the  belief  that  the 
<c  exemption  of  this  town  from  the  ravages  of  yellow 
"  fever  is  owing,  ift,  to  the  remarkably  clean  ftate  of 
"  the  town ;  and,  zdly,  to  the  houles  being  placed  at 
"  luch  diftances  as  to  admit  of  free  ventilation.  It  was 
"  obfervable  that  the  yellow  fever  had  a  fpontaneous 
*c  origin  in  two  different  places  of  the  town,  where  putrid 
*'  matters  had  been  fufferrd  to  accumulate,  and  proved 
<c  fatal  to  two  perfons  in  different  families  ;  thefe  unclean 
*'  fpots  forming  exceptions  to  to  the  generally  purified 
"  flate  of  the  town." 

10.  Cafe  of  fever  produced  by  the  effluvia  of  putrid  beef. 
This  took  place  in  the  federal  garnfon  on  Governor's 
liland.*  The  fubject  was  a  foldier,  who  had  been  ex- 
cufed  from  duty  on  account  of  a  violent  and  obftinate 
gonorrhoea.  On  removing  him  into  a  lodging  without 
the  garnfon  he  was  feized  with  fymptoms  of  fever,  and 
on  the  commencement  of  thefe  the  gonorrhce.i  ceafed. 
For  four  days  the  fever  increafed,  and  was  attended  at 
hft  with  vomiting,  hiccup  and  delirium.  From  the 
firft  commencement  of  the  difeafe  the  phyfician  had 
been  fenfible  of  a  very  offenfive  fmell  in  the  patient's 
room.  Being  allured  that  this  was  not  owing  to  want  of 
cleanlinefs,  he  caufed  fearch  to  be  made  under  it,  and  in 
the  cellars  found  three  barrels  of  beef  fo  putrid  that  it 
was  with  difficulty  they  could  be  removed,  on  account 
of  the  ftench.  Oa  removing  them,  however,  the  patient 
rapidly  recovered,  though  till  then  he  had  conftantly 
grown  worfe. 

*  Medical  Repofitory,  vol.  i,  p.  sio. 


END  OF  THE  SECOND  PART. 


APPENDIX. 


N°     I. 

Account  of  the  Plague  at  Athens.,  in  the  time  of  the  PC- 

lop onnefian  War  : — From  THUCYDIDES . S  M  i  T  H'J> 

Tranflation. 

THE  Peloponnefians  and  their  allies,  who  had  made  an  incurfion  into 
Atticai  with  two  thirds  of  their  forces,  had  not  been  many  days  there 
before  a  ficknefs  began  firft  to  appear  among  the  Athenians,  fuch  as  was  re- 
ported to  have  raged  before  this  in  other  parts,  as  about  Lemnos  and  other 
places.  Yet  a  plague  ib  great  as  this,  and  Ib  dreadful  a  mortality,  in  human 
memory  could  not  be  paralleled.  The  phyficians  at  firft  could  adminifter  no 
relief,  through  utter  ignorance  ;  nay,  they  died  the  falter,  the  clofer  their  at- 
tendance on  the  fick  ;  and  all  human  art  was  totally  unavailing.  Whatever 
i'upplications  were  offered  in  the  temples,  whatever  recourfe  to  oracles  and 
religious  rites,  all  were  infignificant :  at  laft,  expedients  ef  this  nature  they 
totally  relinquifned,  overcome  by  calamity.  It  broke  out  firft,  as  it  is  faid,  in 
that  part  of  Ethiopia  which  borders  upon  Egypt ;  it  afterwards  fpread  into 
Egypt  and  Libya  ;  and  at  length,  on  a  fudden,  fell  on  the  city  of  the  Athe- 
nians. The  contagion  fhewed  itfelf  firft  in  I'iiaeus;  which  occafioned  a  re- 
port, that  the  Pcloponnelians  had  caufed  poifon  to  be  thrown  into  the  wells  ; 
for,  as  yet,  there  were  no  fountains  there.  After  this  it  fpread  into  the  upper 
city,  and  then  the  mortality  very  much,  increafed.  Let  every  one,  phyfician 
or  not,  freely  declare  his  own  fentiments  about  it ;  let  him  affign  any  credible 
account  of  its  rife,  or  the  caufes  ftrong  enough,  in  his  opinion,  to  introduce  fo 
Terrible  a  fcene.  I  (hall  only  relate  what  it  actually  was,  and  as,  from  an  in- 
formation in  all  its  fymptoms,  none  may  be  quite  at  a  lofs  about  it  if<  ever  it 
ftiould  happen  again,  I  (hall  give  an  exact  detail  of  them  ;  having  been  lick  of 
it  my  1  elf,  and  feen  many  others  afflicted  with  it. 

This  very  year,  (430  B.  C.)  as  is  univerfally  allowed,  had  been,  more  than 
any  other,  remarkably  free  from  common  diforders;  or,  whatever  difeafe? 
had  already  feized  the  body,  they  ended  at  length  in  this.  But  thofe  wlio  en- 
joyed the  moft  perfecl  health  were  fuddenly,  without  any  apparent  caufe*  feized 
at  firft  with  head-achs  extremely  violent,  with  inflammations  and  fiery  rednefs 
in  the  eyes.  Within,  the  throat  and  tongue  began  inftamly  to  be  red  as  blood  ; 
the  breath  was  drawn  with  difficulty,  and  had  a  noifome  fmell.  The 
fymptoms  that  fucceeded  thefe  were,  fneezing  and  hoarienefs ;  and»  not  long 
after,  the  malady  defcended  to  the  breaft,  with  a  violent  cough;  but,  wheu 
once  fettled  in  the  ftomach,  it  excited  vomitings,  in  which  was  thrown  up  ali 
that  matter  which  phyficians  call  difcharges  of  bile,  attended  with  exceffive 
torture.  A  great  part  of  the  infected  were  fubject  to  fuch  violent  hiccups. 
without  any  di (charge*  as  brought  upon  them  Itrong  convulsions,  to  fome  but 
of  a  fhort,  to  others  of  a  very  long  continuance.  The  body,  to  the  outward 
touch,  was  neither  very  hot  nor  of  a  pallid  hue,  but  reddifh,  livid,  marked  all 
over  with  little  puftules  and  fores  ;  yet,  inwardly,  it  was  fcorched  with  fuch 
exceffive  heat  that  it  would  not  bear  the  flighteit  covering  of  the  fineft  linen 
upon  it,  but  muft  be  left  quite  naked,  They  longed  for  nothing  fo  much. 
as-  to  be  plunging  in  cold  water;  and  many  <?t  thofe.  who  were  not  pro*' 

4  A  •     perly 


APPENDIX, 

perly  attended  threw  themfelves  into  wells,  hurried  by  a  th'uft  not  to  fc» 
extinguifhed  ;  and,  whether  they  dra»k  much  or  little,  their  torment  ftill 
continued  the  fame.  The  reftletthefs  of  their  bodies,  and  an  utter  inabili- 
ty ofcompoling  themfelves  to  fleep,  never  abated  for  a  moment  And  thd 
body,  fo  long  as  the  diftemper  continued  in  its  height,  had  rib  vifible  wafte» 
but  withllood  its  rage  to  a  miracle  ;  fo  that  moft  of  them  perifhed  within  feven 
or  nine  days  by  the  heat  that  fcorched  their  vitals,  though  their  ftrength  was 
not  exhautted  ;  or,  if  they  continued  longer,  thedifternpsr  fell  into  the  belly» 
cauftng  violent  ulcerations  ot  the  bowels,  accompanied  with,  an  inceflant  flux, 
by  which  many,  reduced  to  an  excefftve  weaknefs,  were  carried  off.  For  the 
malady,  beginning  in  the  head,  and  fettling  firit  there,  funk  afterwards 
gradually  down  through  the  whole  body.  And  whoever  go  fafe  through  all 
its  moft  dangerous  ftages,  yet  the  extremities  of  their  bodies  ftiil  retained  the 
marks  of  its  violence.  For  it  ihot  down  into  their  privy  members,  into 
their  fingers  and  toes,  by  lofing  which  they  efcaped  with  1'Te.  Some  thera 
were  who  loft  their  eyes,  and  fome  who,  being  quite  recovered,  had  at  once 
totally  loft  all  memory,  and  quite  forgot  not  only  their  mod  intimate  friends* 
but  even  their  own  felves.  For,  as  this  diiiemper  was  in  general  virulent  be- 
yond exprelfion,  and  its-every  part  more  grievous  than  had  yet  fallen  to  the  lot 
of  human  nature  ;  fo,  in  one  particular  inftance,  it  appeared  to  be  none  of  the 
ratural  infirmities  of  man,  fince  the  birds  and  hearts  that  prey  on  human  flefh 
either  never  approached  the  dead  bodies,  of  which  many  lay  about  uninterred» 
or  certainly  perilhed  if  they  taftcd.  One  proof  of  thia  is  then  the  total  difap- 
pearance  of  fueh  birds;  for  not  one  was  to  be  feen,  either  in  any  other  place,. 
or  about  any  of  the  carcafes.  But  the  dogs,  becaufe  of  their  conftant  familiarity 
with  man,  afforded  a  more  notorious  proof  of  this  event. 

The  nature  of  this  peililential  diibr'der  was  in  general  (for  I  have  purpofely 
omitted  many  of  its  varied  appearances,  or  the  clrcumftances  particular  to 
ibmeof  the  infededin  contradiftindlion  to  others)  fuch  as  hath  been  defcribed. 
None  of  the  common  maladies  incident  to  human  nature  prevailed  at  that 
time  ;  or,  whatever  diforder  any  where  appeared,  it  ended  in  this.  Some  died 
merely  for  want  of  care;  and  fome  with  all  the  care  that  could  poffibly  be 
taken;  nor  was  any  one  medicine  difcovered  from  whence  could  be  promifeci 
any  certain  relief;  fince  that  which  gave  eafe  to  one  was  prejudicial  to  another. 
Whatever  difference  there  was  in  bodies  in  point  of  ftrength,  or  in  point  of 
weaknefs,  it  availed  nothing  ;  all  were  equally  fwept  away  before  it,  in  fpite 
of  regular  diet,  and  ftudied  prescriptions.  Yet  the  moft  a fiecl ing  circumftances 
of  this  calamity  were,  that  dejection  of  mind  which  conftantly  attended  thov 
firft  attack  ;  for  the  mind  finking  at  once  into  dtfpair,  they  loon  gave  them- 
felves up  without  a  ftruggle  ;  and  that  mutual  tendernefs  in  taking  care  of  one 
anothe1*  which  communicated  the  infediion,  and  made  them  drop  like  iheep. 
Thib  latter  cafe  can  fed  the  mortality  to  be  fo  great.  For,  if  fear  withheld 
them  from  going  near  one  another,  they  died  for  want  of  help  ;  fo  that  many 
houles  became  defolatc  for  wan?  of  needful  attendance  ;  and  if  they  ventured, 
they  were  gone.  This  was  moft  frequently  the  cai'e  of  the  kind  and  compaf* 
fionale  Sur.h  yerfons  were  a'f'amed,  out  of  'A  feltnh  concern  for  themfelves, 
entirely  to  abandon  their  friends  5  when  their  menial  fervants,  no  longer  able 
to  endure  the  groans  and  lamentations  of  the  dying,  had  been  compelled  to  fiy 
from  fuch  a  weight  ot  calamity.  But  thofe,  efj>ecia;ly,  who  had  fafely  gone 
through  it,  took  pity  on  the  dying  and  the  lick,  becaufe  they  knew  by  them- 
felves what  it  really  was»  and  were  now  fe<;ure  in  themfeivcs  ;  for  it  never 
j'eized  one  a  Jeeond  time  fo  as  to  be  mortal.  Such  were  looked  upon  as  quite 
happy  by  others,  and  were  themfelves  at  firft  overjoyed  in  their  late  efcape*  . 
and  the  groundlefs  hope  that  hereafter  no  diftemper  would  prove  fatal  to  them. 
Betides  this  rciguing  calamity,  the  general  removal  from  the  country  into  the 
city  was  a  heavy  grievance,  more  particularly  to  thofe  who  h.icJ  been  necelfi- 
tated  to  come  thither.  For,  as  they  had  no  houfes,  but  dwelled  all  the  fum- 
jner  time  in  booths,  where  there  was  fcarce  room  to  breathe,  the  pefiiience 
deftroyed  them  with  the  utmort  diforder,  fo  that  they  Jay  together  in  heaps, 
the  dying  upon  the  dead-,  and  the  dead  upon  the  dying.  Some  were  tumbling 
over  one  another  in  the  public  ftreets,  or  lay  expiring  about  every  fountain* 
whither  they  had  crept  to  afTuage  their  extraordinary  thirit.  The  temples, 

to 


APPENDIX.  547 

In  vvliich  they  had  ereaed  tents  for  their  reception,  were  full  of  the  bodies 
which  had  expired  there.  For,  in  a  calamity  fo  outrageouily  violent,  and  uni- 
verfal  defpair,  things  facred  and  holy  had  quite  loft  their  diftindlion.  Nay* 
all  regulations  obferved  before  in  matters  of  fepulture  were  quite  confounded* 
iince  every  one  buried  where  he  could  find  a  place.  Some, Whole  fepuichres 
were  already  filled  by  the  numbers  which  had  periftied  in  their  own  families, 
were  fnamefully  compelled  to  feize  thofe  of  others.  They  furprifed  on  a  fud- 
«len  the  piles  which  others  had  built  for  their  own  friends,  and  burned  their 
dead  upon  th«m  ;  and  fome,  whilft  one  body  was  burning  on  a  pile,  tofled 
another  body  they  had  dragged  thither  upon  it,  and  went  their  way. 

Thus  did  the  peftilence  firft  give  rife  to  thofe  iniquitous  ads  which  pre- 
vailed more  and  more  in  Athens.  For  every  one  was  now  more  eafily  indu- 
ced openly  to  do  what  for  decency  they  did  only  covertly  before.  They  faw  the 
ftrange  mutability  of  outward  condition  ;  the  rich  entirely  cut  off,  and  their 
wealth  pouring  fuddenly  on  the  indigent  and  neceflitous  ;  fo  that  they  thought 
it  prudent  to  catch  hold  off'peedy  enjoyments  an<l  quick  gufts  of  pleafurej 
perfuaded  that  their  bodies  and  their  weai  h.  might  be  their  own  merely  for 
the  day.  Not  anyone  continued  refolute  enough  to  form  any  honeft  or  gene- 
rous dsfign,  when  fo  uncertain  whether  he  mould  live  to  effed  it-  What- 
ever he  knew  could  improve  the  pleafure  or  latisfaclion  of  the  prefent  mo- 
ment, that  he  determined  to  be  honour  and  intereft.  Reverence  of  the  gods, 
crof  the  laws  of  fociety,  laid  no  reftraints  upon  them;  either  judging  that 
piety  or  impiety  were  things  indifferent,  fmce  they  faw  that  all  men  peri(hed 
alike;  or,  throwing  away  every  apprehenfion  of  being  called  to  account  for 
their  enormities,  (ince  juftice  might  b^  prevented  by  death;  or  rather,  as  the 
heavieft  judgment  to  which  man  could  be  doomed  was  already  hanging 
over  their  heads,  fnatching  this  interval  of  pleafure  before  it  fell. 


Ne     II. 

dc  count  of  the  Great  Plague  In  the  time  0/*JusTiNiAN  : — • 
By  FROCOPIUS. 

rT^HIS  was  a  plague  which  almoft  confumed  mankind  ;  of  which  Procopitis 
JL  concludes  there  was  no  other  caule  than  the  immediate  hand  of  God 
himfelf  For  it  neither  came  upon  one  part  of  the  world  alone,  nor  in  one 
feafon  of  the  year;  whence  fubtile  wits  (as  he  faith)  might  make  pretenfions. 
It  afRided  the  whole  world?  and  all  conditions  of  men,  though  of  never  fo 
contrary  a  nature  and  difpofition  ;  fparing  no  confutation  nor  age.  The  dif- 
ference of  men  as  to  their  places  of  dwelling,  diet,  complexions,  inclinations? 
&c.  did  no  good  in  this  diieafe.  Some  it  took  in  fummer,  fome  in  winter* 
and  others  in  other  feafons.  It  began  among  the  Egyptiins  in  Pelufium,  and 
fpread  to  Alexandria,  with  the  reft  of  Egypt,  one  way,  and  the  other  to  thofe 
parts  of  Paleftine  which  border  upon  Egypt.  From  thence  it  travelled  to  the 
utmoft  bounds  of  the  world,  as  by  fet  journies  and  ftages,  making  deftrucliott 
its  only  butinefs,  and  fparing  neither  iiland>  cave,  nor  top  of -mountain,  where 
mankind  inhabited  ;  for,  if  it  leaped  over  a  country,  returning  afterwards* 
it  left  it  no  caule  to  rejoice  above  its  fellows  It  began  ftill  at  the  fea  coaft, 
and  thence  went  to  the  inland  parts  In  the  fecond  year  of  its  progrefs  it 
arrived  at  Conftautinople,  about  the  middle  of  the  fpring,  where  it  was  the 
fortune  ol  Procopius  then  to  refide.  Apparitions  of  fpirits,  in  all  fhapes  hu- 
man, were  feen  by  many,  who  thought  the  man  they  met  ftruck  them  in 
fome  part  of  the  body  ;  and  fo  foon  as  they  faw  the  fpirit  they  werefeized  with 
the  difeafe  At  firft  when  they  met  them  they  repeated  divine  names,  and 
lied  into  churches,  to  no  purpofe.  Afterwards  they  were  afraid  to  hear  thetr 
friends  call  them,  locking  themfelves  up  in  their  chambers,  and  (topping  their 
ears.  Some  dreamed  they  faw  fuch  lights  ;  others  that  they  heard  a  voice 
tell  them  they  were  enrolled  among  the  number  of  thofe  appointed  to  die. 

But 


545 


APPENDIX. 


T?ut  moftr  without  warning,  became  feverifh  fuddenly  :  thdr  bodies  changed 
not  colour,  nor  were  hot  ;  the  fever  being  fo  remils  till  evening,  that  neither 
the  patient  nor  phyiician.  by  his  pulfe,  could  apprehend  any  danger.  Yet  to 
fame  the  fame  day,  to  others  the  next,  or  many  days  after,  arofe  a  bubo,  ei- 
ther in  the  groin,  the  armpit,  under  the  ear,  or  in  other  parts.  Thefe  were 
the  general  fyrnptoms  which  happened  alike  to'al!  the  vifited  peribrife. 

There  were  others  different  ;  whether  made  fo  by  the  diverlity  of  bodies, 
or  by  the  will  and  pleafure  of  him  that  fent  the  diftemper,  our  author  cannot 
fay.  Some  were  feized  with  drowfinefs  and  numbering,  others  with  a  (harp 
diftracYion.  The  flumberers  forgot  all  things  :  if  they  were  looked  to,  fomc 
•would  eat  ;  fome,  that  were  negledted,  flarved  to  death.  Thofe  who  were 
diftra&ed  were  vexed  with  apparitions  ;  crying  there  were  men  to  kill  them  ; 
and  running  away  ;  being  fo  troublefome  and  unruly  that  their  keepers  were 
pitied  as  much  as  they  themfelves.  No  phyfkian  or  other  caught  the  difeafe 
by  touching  tick  or  dead  bodies  ;  many  ftrangely  continuing  free,  though  they 
tended  and  buried  infected  perfons,  and  many  catching  it  they  knew  not  how, 
and  dying  inft  mtly.  Many  leapt  into  the  water,  though  not  from  thirft  ;  and 
fome  into  the  fea.  Some,  without  flumbering  or  madnefs,  had  their  bubo 
gangrened,  and  died  with  extreme  pain  ;  which  doubtiefs  alfo  happened  to 
thofe  who  had  the  phrenfy,  though,  being  not  themfelves,  they  underftood  it 
rot.  Some  phyficians  hereupon,  conceiving  the  venom  and  head  of  the  dif- 
eafe to  lie  in  thofe  plague  fores,  opened  the  dead  bodies,  and,  fearching  the 
fores,  found  an  huge  carbuncle  growing  inward^  Such  whole  bodies  were 
f pot  ted  with  black  pimples,  the  bignefs  of  a  lentile,  lived  not  a  day.  Many 
died  vomiting  blood.  Some  that  were  given  over  by  the  moft  eminent  phy- 
ficians unexpectedly  recovered  ;  others,  of  whofe  recovery  they  thought  them- 
felves perfedtly  fecure,  fuddenly  perifhed.  No  caule  of  this  ficknefs  could 
be  reached  by  man's  reafon.  Some  received  benefit  by  bathing,  others  it 
hurt.  Many  died  for  want  of  relief,  others  efcaped  without  it.  In  a  word, 
no  way  could  there  be  found  of  prefervation,  either  by  preventing  the  fick- 
nefs, or  of  mattering  the  difeafe,  no  caule  appearing  either  of  their  falling  lick 
or  recovery.  Women  with  child,  who  were  vilitcd,  certainly  died;  fome 
xnifcarrying,  fome  fairly  delivered,  and  perilling  with  their  children.  Three 
•women  only  were  fafely  brought  to  bed  and  recovered,  their  children  dy- 
ing ;  and  one  died  whole  child  had  the  hap  to  live.  Such  as  had  their  fores 
great,  and  running  plentifully,  efcaped  ;  the  violence  of  the  carbuncles  be- 
ing thereby  afluaged  ;  and  this  was  the  moft  certain  fign  of  health.  Such 
•whofe  fores  ftaid  as  they  firft  arofe,  underwent  ths  miferable  accident  for- 
merly mentioned.  Some  had  their  thighs  withered,  when  the  fores  rofe 
upon  them  and  did  not  run.  Some  efcaped  with  diminifhed  tongues,  and 
lived  ftammering,  or  uttering  founds  without  diflindion,  all  their  days.  In 
Conftantinoplc  the  peftilence  lifted  four  months  ;  raging  three  months  with 
all  extremity.  In  the  beginning  few  died  more  than  ufual.  Then,  growing 
liotter  and  hotter,  it  came  to  live,  and  at  laft  to  ten  thoufand  every  day.  At 
firft  they  buried  their  dead  carefully.;  but  at  length  all  came  to  confufion, 
and  many  lay  long  unburied  ;  fervants  were  without  mailers  ;  rich  men  had 
none  to  attend  them.  In  the  afrl idled  city  little  was  to  be  feen  but  empty 
Iioufes,  no  trade  going,  or  ihops  open. 


N°     III. 

Account  of  the  Plague  at  London  in  1665  : — From  Dr. 
HODGES  and  others, 

IN  the   beginning  of  September    1664  the  people  of   London    firft  became 
alarmed  by  a  report  of  the   plague  being  broke  out  in    Holland,  where   it 
raged  violently  the  former  year.     The  United  Provinces  had  received  it  from 
fome  place  in  the  Levant,  and,  certain  accounts  having  been  received  of  the 

dJfteropei 


APPENDIX.  549 

iiftemper  being  in  Holland,  feveral  councils  were  held  by  government  with  a 
view  of  concerting  means  for  preventing  its  introdudlion  into  Britain  Thefe 
Mvere  held  privately,  and  it  does  not  appear  that  any  thing  was  poiitively  de- 
termined upon  ;  but  thus  the  knowledge  that  1'uch  a  diftemper  exifted  in 
Holland  was  fupprefifcd,  and  the  public  tears  diflipated  until  the  beginning 
of  December  ;  when  two,  fuppofedtobe  Frenchmen,*  in  Long-acre,  or  rather 
the  upper  end  of  Drury  lane,  died  with  fuch  fufpicious  fymptoms  that  the 
people  ot  the  houfe  endeavoured  to  conceal  the  diftemper  of  which  they  died. 
The  fecretaries  of  (late,  however,  having  got  intelligence  of  the  matter,  cauf- 
ed  their  bodies  to  be  infyeded,  when  it  became  evident  they  had  died  of  the 
plague.  This  produced  a  general  alarm  ;  Dr.  Hodges  fays,  that  •«  hereupon 
««  forne  timorous  neighbours,  under  apprehenfions  of  a  contagion,  removed  in- 
««  to  the  city  of  London  ;  who  unfortunately  carried  along  with  them  the  pefti- 
««  lential  taint  ;  whereby  that  difeafe,  which  was  before  in  its  infancy,  in  a  fa- 
«'  mily  or  two,  fuddenly  got  ftrength,  and  i'pread  abroad  its  fatal  poifon  ;  and* 
<«  merely  for  want  of  confining  the  perfons  firft  feized  with  it,  the  whole  city 
«<  was  irrecoverably  infected/'  The  author  of  the  Journal,  however,  fays 
that  the  public  fear  again  fubfided,  though  it  had  been  ftill  farther  railed  by 
the  death  of  another  pertbn  in  the  fame  houfe  about  the  latter  end  of  Decem- 
ber ;  but,  as  no  more  died  for  fix  weeks,  no  farther  notice  was  taken  of  it  un- 
til the  1 2th  of  February,  when  one  died  in  another  houfe,  but  in  the  fame 
parifh.  Soon  after  this  an  increafewas  obferved  in  the  weekly  lift  of  burials 
at  St.  Giles's  parith,  which  augmented  the  general  alarm  fo  much  that  few 
cared  to  pafs  through  Drury  lane  or  the  fufpeded  ftreets,  unleis  upon  very 
urgent  bufinefs.  In  a  fhort  time  a  like  augmentation  was  perceived  in  the 
"bills  of  the  adjoining  parithes,  and  indeed  all  over  the  town.  The  Journal 
informs  us  that  the  ufual  number  of  burials  within  the  bill  of  mortality  was 
from  240  to  300  ;  but  from  the  2oth  of  December  to  January  24th  they  had  gra* 
dually  arifen  from  291  to  474.  This  feems  incontinent  with  what  he  had  be- 
fort  faid  of  the  alarm  having  ceafed  till  the  I2th  of  February  ;  but  we  (hall 
take  his  own  words.  "This  laft  bill  (474)  was  really  frightful;  being  a 
«'  greater  number  than  had  been  known  to  have  been  buried  in  one  week  fmce 
4t  the  preceding  vifitation  of  1656.  However,  all  this  went  off  again,  and  the 
41  weather  proving  cold,  and  the  froft,  which  began  in  December,  continuing 
*'  very  fevere,  even  till  near  the  end  of  February,  attended  with  (harp  though 
*«  moderate  winds,  the  bills  decreafed  again,  and  the  city  grew  healthy,  and 
41  every  body  began  to  look  upon  the  danger  as  good  as  over  ;  only  that  ftill 
««  the  burials  in  St.  Giles's  continued  high.  From  the  beginning  of  April  efpe- 
41  daily,  they  ftood  at  25  each  week,  till  the  week  from  the  i8th  to  thr 
««  zjth,  when  there  were  buried  in  St.  Giles's  parifh  30  ;  whereof  were  two 
«'  of  the  plague,  and  eight  of  the  fpotted  fever,  which  was  looked  upon  as  thr 
«« fame  thing  ;  likewile  the  number  that  died  of  the  ipotted  fever  on  the 
«  whole  increafed  ;  being  eight  the  week  before,  and  twelve  the  week  above 
"  named." 

Thus  a  new  and  ftill  greater  alarm  was  produced,   which  was  yet  farther 

augmented  by  the  fpreading  of  the  diftemper.       The  journalift   fays    indeed 

that  only  a  few  were  fet  down  in  the  lifts  as  having  died  of  the  plague  ;    the 

remainder  of  the. deaths  being  charged  to  other  diitempers;    and  accordingly 

one  week,  when  the  mortality  bilKwas  high,  and  only  14  charged  to  the  plaguef 

lie  fays,    ««  this  was  all  knavery  and  collufion  ;  for  in  St.   Giles's  parifli  they 

1  buried  40  in  all;    whereof  it  was  certain   that  moft  of  them    died  of  the 

1  plague,  though  they  were  fet  down  of  other  diftempers;    and  though  ths 

«  number  ot  all  the  burials  was  not  increafed  above  32,   and  the  whole  bill 

*  being  but  385,  yet  there  were  14 of  the  fpotted  fever,  as  well  as  14  of  the 

*  plague;  and  we  took  it  for  granted  upon  the  whole  that  there  were  50  died 
<  of  the  plague  that  week.      The  next  bill    was  from  the  23 d  of  May  to  the 
«  ^oth,  when  the  number  of  the  plague  was  1 7  ;  but  the  burials  in  St.  Giles's 

were  53  ;   a  frightful  number,  of  whom  they  fet  down  but  nine  of  the 
j  but,  on  examination  more  ilritUy  by  the  juftices  of  the  peace,  and 

«*  a* 

*  jfwr&l  of  th:  Plague  Tear, 


55*  APPENDIX. 

•*  at  the  lord  mayor's  requefl,  it  was  found  there  were  aa  more  who  were  yeaLV 
•«  dead  of  the  plague  in  that  parifh,  but  had  been  fet  down  of  the  fpotted  fe- 
«  ver,  or  other  diftempers,  befides  other*  concealed." 

The  account  given  by  Dr.  Hodges  is  fomewhat   different  from  the   above. 
He  informs  us  that  "  a  very  hard  froft  began  in  December,    and   continued 
«  three  months,  which  feerncd   greatly  to  diminim  the  contagion,   and   very 
"  few  died  during  that  feaion ;  though  even  then  it  was  not  totally  extinguith- 
••  ed."     The  journalift  fays  that  in  this  interraiffion  of  the  plague  there  was 
a  difficulty  which  he  could  not  well  get  over.     The  firft  perfon    who  died  of 
the  plague  he  fays  (p.  334)  was  on  December  aoth,  or  thereabouts,  1664,  though 
he  had  told  us  before  (p.  ^}  that  it  was  the  end  of   November,  or  beginning 
of  December  the  fame  year.    «  But  after  this  (continues  he)  we  heard  no  more 
««  of  any  perfon  dying  of  the  plague*  or  the  diftemper  being  in  that  place,  till 
*«  the  ^th  of  February,  which  was  about  feven  weeks  after  ;  and  then  one  more 
•'*  wa>  buried  out  of  the  lame  houfe  :    then  it  was  hufhed»    and  we  were  per- 
*'  fcclly  eafy  as  to  the  public  for  a  great  while,  for  there  were  no  more  enter- 
*'  ed  in  the  weekly  bill  to  be  dead  of  the  plague,,  till  the  zzd  of  April      Now 
«»  the  queition  feems   to  be  thus :      Where  lay  the  feeds    of  the  infection  all 
•*  this  while  ?*  How  came  it  to  ftopfo  long,  and  not  to  ft^p  any  longer  ?  Either 
"  the  diftempsr  did  not  immediately  come  by  contagion  from  body    *o    body* 
«'  or,  if  it  did,  then  a  body  may  continue  to  be  infected    without   the  difeal* 
«*  difcovering    itfeif  many   days,   nay,    weeks    together.      It  is  true   there 
*«  was  a  very  cold  winter,  and  long  froft,  which  continued  three  raontks ;  and 
••  this,  the  Doclors  fay,  might  check  the  infection  ;  bur  then  the  learned  mull 
*«  allow- me  to  fay  that  if,    according  to  their   notion*    the   difeafe  was,    as  I 
•'  may  fay,  only  frozen  up,  it  would,  like  a  frozen  river,  have  returned  to  its  ufu- 
*«  al  force  and  current  when  it  thawed  ;  whereas  the  principal  recefsof  the  in- 
•«  fection,  which  was  from  February  to  April,  was  after  the  froft  was  brokenf 
"  and  the  weather  mild  and  warm.     But  there  is  another  way  of  folving   all 
«  this  difficulty*  which  I  think  my  own  remembrance  of  the  thing  will  fup- 
**  ply  ;    and  that  is,   the  fact  is  not  granted,  namely,  that  thqre  died  none  in 
«'  thofe  long  intervals,  viz.  from  the  zoih  of  December  to  the  gth  of  February, 
«*  and  from  thence  to  the  2id  of  April.     The  weekly  bills  are  the    only   evi- 
*'  dence  on  the  other  fide,  and  thofe  bills  were  not  of  credit  enough,  at  lealt 
«'  with  me,  to  fupport   an  hypothefis,  or  determine  a  queftion  of  fuch  impor- 
•«  tanceas  this  :  for  it  was  cur    received  opinion   at  that  time,    and  I  believe 
««  upon  very  good  grounds,  that  the  fraud  lay  in  the  parifh  officers,  fearchers, 
a<  and  pcrfons  appointed  to  give  account  of  the  dead,  and  what  difeafes  they  di« 
r«  ed  of;  and,  as  people  were  veiy  loth  at  firft  to  have  the   neighbours  believe 
•«  their  houfes  wereinfeded.  fo  they  gave  mouey  to  procure,   or  ptherwife  pro- 
•*  cured,  the  dead  perfons  to  be  returned  as  dying  of  other  diftempers ;  and  this, 
fi  I  know,  was  pradtifed  afterwards  in  many  places  ;   I  believe  I  might  fay  inalJ 
««  places  where  the  difiempercaine  i    as  might  be  feen  by  the  vaft  increafe  of 
*«  the  numbers  placed  in    the   weekly    bills  under  other  articles   of  difeafes, 
•<  during  the  time  of  the  infedion.     For  example,  in  the  months  of  July  and 
««  Auguil,  when  the  plague  was  coming  on  to  hs  highdt  pitch,  it  was  very 
•«  ordinary  to  have  from  1000  to  1200,   nay  to  almoft  1500,  a  week,  of  other 
*<  diftempers  :  not  that  the  nun)bers  ot  thofe  diftempers  were  really  increafed 
»«  to  fuch  a  degree  ;  but  the  great  number  of  families  and  houfes  where  really 
*«  the  infection-  was,  obtained  the  favour  to  have  their  dead  returned  of  other 
««  difte<n;->ers,  to  prevent  th-e  Hunting  up  of  their  houfes." 

The  difeafe  continued  to  advance,  but  with  fuch  intervals  and  remiffions  as 
frequently  gave  hopes  of  its  disappearing  entirely.  Neverrhelefs,  about  the 
beginning  at  May  ihe  inhabitants  began  to  leave  the  «ity  in  great  numbers. 
Thejournaliftj  for  his  own  part,  vras  irrefolute;  and  fometimes  would  have  left 
the  city  with  the  reft,  had  it  not  been  for  the  imponlbiJity  of  finding  an  horfe; 
«•  for,  (fays  he)  though  it  is  true  that  all  the  people  did  not  go  out  of  the  city 
**  of  London,  yet  I  may  venture  to  fay  that  in  a  manner  all  the  horfes  did  ; 
«*  lor  there  was  hardly  a  horfe  10  be  bought  or  hired  in*  the  whole  city  for  fom* 
*«  weeks."  Many  fled  on  foot,  carrying  with  them  foldiers*  tents,  in  which 
they  il^pt  in  the  fields,  ir  being  then  warm  weather,  and  no  danger  of  taking 
cold.  This  way  ot  living  \vs.&  alio  ii.rniliar  in  fome  degree  by  reafon  of  the 

wars 


APPENDIX.  $ji 

which  had  preceded;  multitudes  of  thofe  who  had  fervedin  them  being 

at  that  time  in  London.  This  our  author  greatly  approves  of  as  a  method  of 
preventing  the  infedtion  from  fpreading,  and  thinks  that,  had  it  been  more 
generally  practifed»,much  lei's  damage  would  have  been  done  in  the  country 
than  happened  at  the  time  from  this  dreadful  diftemper. 

Early  in  June  the  court  thought  proper  to  remove  to  the  city  of  Oxfordt 
whither  the  infedtion  did  not  reach.  The  people  ftill  continued  to  remove 
during  the  whole  month  of  July,  though  infmaller  numbers  than  before  ;  but 
in  Auguft  the  multitude  of  fugitives  fo  increased  that,  fays  our  author,  •«  I  be- 
gan to  think  there  would  be  noiie  but  magiftrates  and  fervants  kft."  Hein- 
fotmsui  allb  that  at  the  bieaking  out  of  this  plague  the  city  was  unufually  full 
of  people  ;  vatt  numbers  who  had  ferved  in  the  wars,  or  who,  in  times  of  trou- 
ble, had  been  friends  to  royalty,  had  flocked  into  it  on  the  reiteration  of 
Charles  II,  in  hopes  of  reaping  fome  fruit  of  their  former  labours  aud  fuller- 
ings  ;  fo  that  on  the  whole  he  fuppofes  there  muft  have  been  upwards  of  an 
hundred  thoufand  people  more  than  ufual  in  the  city.  Indeed,  if  we  are  to 
believe  that,  on  a  representation  of  the  ftate  of  the  poor  to  the  lord  mayor,  it 
appeared  that  there  were  an  hundred  thoufand  ribband  weavers  in  Spittle- fields* 
we  muft  look  upon  the  population  of  London  at  that  time  to  have  been  incredi- 
bly great;  and  when  the  journalift  computes  the  number  of  thofe  who  fled 
only  at  two  hundred  thoufand,  we  muft  certainly  iuppofe  it  te  have  been 
greatly  underrated. 

As  the  plague  continued  to  become  more  and  more  violent,  the  magiftrates 
thought  proper  to  take  fome  means  tor  feparating  the  infefted  from  the 
healthy ;  but  unhappily  their  mode  of  procedure  was  fuch  as  infpired  both  the 
inlsded  and  uninfected  with  the  utmoft  terror.  The  houfes  were  marked  with 
a  red  crofs,  fubfcribed  with  the  words  ««  LORD,  HAVff  ME&CY  UPON  vs  !** 
in  large  letters.  They  were  continually  guarded,  day  and  night ;  and  none 
were  allowed  accefs  to  the  Tick,  to  give  them  either  food  or  medicines,  ex- 
cepting thofe  who  guarded  them  |  nor  were  the  lick  themfeivcs  allowed  to  go 
abroad  until  foity  days  after  their  recovery.  But,  though  the  diitemper 
continually  advanced,  it  did  not  get  to  its  fuli  height  until  the  months  of  Au- 
guft and  September.  Before  this  time  it  feemed  to  fly  from  place  to  place  5 
4p  that  great  hope*  were  entertained,  though  always  without  foundation,  of 
its  total  removal;  but  now  it  invaded  the  whole  city.  Four  or  five  thoufand 
<iiedin  a  week;  once  eight  thoufand  ;  and»  in  the  month  ot  September,  for 
iometitne,  twelve  thouiand  a  week  died.  The  city  was  reduced  to  the  ex- 
tremity of  diftrefs. 

The  author  of  this  journal  had  the  courage  not  only  to  remain  in  the  city» 
during  the  whole  time  of  the  infedtion,  but  even  took  many  folitary  walks  to> 
the  houfeofhis  brother,  who  had  removed  imo  the  country,  in  order  to  pre- 
lerve  his  goods  from  being  ftolen.  At  fir! t  he  went  every  day,  but  afterwards 
only  once  or  twice  a  week.  He  tells  us  alib  that  lie  took  many  walks  out  of 
cunofity;  and,  though  he  generally  came  home  frighted  and  terrified,  he 
could  not  reitrainhimielf.  ««  In  thofe  walks  (fays  he)  I  had  many  difmai 

•  Series  before  my  eyes  ;  as  particularly  of  perfbns  falling  dead  in  the  ltreets« 
«  terrible  ihrieks,  and  fcreamings  of  women,  who,  in  their  agonies,  would 
«  throw  open  their  chamber  windows,  and  cry  out  in  a  difmal,  fuprifing  manner, 

«•  It  is  fcarce  credible  what  dreadful  cafes  happened  in  particular  families 
«  every  day;  people  in  the  rage  ot  the  diftemper,  or  in  the  torment  of  their 

•  fwellings,  which  was  indeed  intolerable,  running  about  raving  and  diftradted  i 
«  and  oftentimes  laying  violent  hands  upoji  themfelves,  throwing  themielves 

•  out  at  their  windows,  ihooting  themielves,  &c.   mothers  murdering  their 
«  own  children,  in  their  lunacy  ;  fome  dying  of  mere  grief  as  a  paffion  ;  fome  of 

•  fright  and  furpriie,  without  any  infedtion  at  all;  others  frighted  into  idio- 
.tinn  and  fooliih  diffractions,  fome  into  defpair  and  lunacy  ;  others  into  me- 
lancholy madnefs." 

The  diitemper  was  found  to  rage  fo  violently  among  the  poorer  fort,  that 
we  are  told  by  Dr.  Hodges,  fome  gave  it  the  name  of  the  poor's  plague. 
This  is  confirmed  by  the  jounulilt,  who  informs  us  that  «*  the  mifery  of  that 
««  time  lay  chiefly  upon  the  poor,  who,  being  infected,  had  neither  food  nor 
«<  phyiic ;  neither  piiyikian  nor  apothecary  to  affift  their.,  nor  nurfe  to  attend  . 

«*  them  s 


55*.  APPENDIX. 

«» them  :  many  of  thofe  died  calling  for  help,  and  even  for  fuftenance,  out  of 
«*  their  windows,  in  a  moft  miferable  and  deplorable  manner  ;  but  it  muft  be 
«*  added,  that,  whenever  the  cafes  of  fuch  perfons  or  families  were  reprelented 
•«  to  the  lord  mayor,  they  were  always  relieved."  Indeed  the  charity  of  the 
more  opulent,  upon  this  occafion,  almoft  exceeds  belief.  Dr.  Hodges  informs 
us,  that  "  though  the  more  opulent  had  left  the  town,  and  it  was  left  almoft 
"  uninhabited,  the  commonalty  who  remained  felt  little  of  want ;  for  their 
"  neceflities  were,  relieved  with  a  profufion  of  good  things  from  the  wealthy t 
««  and  their  poverty  wasfupported  with  plenty."  The  probable  reafon  of  fuch 
devaluation  among  the  poor,  Dr.  Hodges  promifes,  p.  15,  to  give,  and  does 
not ;  at  leaft  I  have  not  been  abl«  to  rind  it  in  his  book  ;  I  muft  therefore 
contrnt  myfelf  with  what  the  journalift  (though  no  phyfician)  has  delivered 
on  this  fubjecl.  He  fays,  that  when  people  began  to  uie  proper  cautions,  the 
danger  of  infection  was  the  lei's.  «»  But  (fays  he)  it  was  impoffible  to  beat  any 
**  thing  into  the  heads  of  the  poor;  they  went  on  with  the  ufual  impetuofity 
"  of  their  tempers;  full  of  outcries  and  lamentations  when  taken,  but  madly 
"  carelels  of  themfelves,  fool-hardy  and  obftinate  when  well  :  where  they 
"  could  get  employment,  they  puihed  into  any  kind  of  bufinefs,  the  moftdan- 
**  geious,  and  the  moft  liable  to  infection  ;  and,  if  they  were  fpoken  to,  their 
•*  anfwer  would  be,  I  mutt  truft  to  GOD  for  that ;  if  I  am  taken,  then  I  am 
••  provided  fori  and  there  is  an  end  of  me,  or  the  like  ;  or  thus  :  Why,  what 
««  muft  I  do  ?  I  cannot  ftarve ;  I  had  as  good  Jiave  the  plague,  as  perifh  for 
**  want.  I  have  no  work,  &c.  ,  This  adventurous  condudt  of  the  poor  was 
««  what  brought  the  plague  among  them  in  a  moft  furious  manner;  and  this, 
*'  joined  to  the  diftrefs  of  their  circumflances,  when  taken  (with  the  diftem- 
«*  per)  was  the  reafon  why  they  died  fo  in  heaps  :  for  I  cannot  fay  that  I 
*l  could  obferve  one  jot  of  better  husbandry  among  them,  I  mean  the  labour- 
'«  ing  poor,  while  they  were  well  and  getting  money,  than  there  was  before; 
•*  but  as  lavifh,  as  extravagant,  and  as  thoughtlefs  of  to  morrow,  as  ever ;  lot 
«'  that,  when  they  came  to  be  taken  fick,  they  were  immediately  in  the  ut- 
««  moft  diftrefs,  as  well  for  want  as  for  ficknef  s,  as  well  for  lack  of  food  as 
*••  lack  of  health." 

In  the  time  of  fo  great  a  calamity,  the  magiftrates  exerted  themfelves  as  far 
as  their  power  and  Ikill  would  permiti  to  leffen  the  luiferings  of  the  people. 
It  was  natural  alfo  in  fitch  a  dreadful  emergency  to  call  upon  the  phyficians 
to  exert  themfelves.  Accordingly  the  king  (Charles  II)  by  his  royal  autho- 
rity commanded  the  College  of  Phyiicians  of  London  jointly  to  write  fome- 
what  in  linglhh,  that  might  be  a  general  directory  in  this  calamitous  exigence; 
nor  was  it  latisfadtory  to  this  honoured  Ibciely  to  discharge  their  regards  for 
the  public  in  that  only  ;  but  fome  were  chofen  out  of  their  number,  and  ap- 
pointed particularly  to  attend  the  infecled  on  all  occafions  ;  two  alfo  out  of  the 
court  of  aldermen  were  required  to  fee  this  hazardous  tafk  executed-* 

Our  author  then  proceeds  to  mention  the  names  of  fome  who  were  em  ployed 
in  this  laudable  undertaking ;  particularly  Dr.  Clifton,  regius  profeffor  at 
Cambridge,  Dr.  Nathaniel  Paget,  Dr.  Wharton,  Dr.  Berwick  and  Dr. 
Brookes  ;  many  others  he  fays  were  employed ;  *«  but  (he  acids)  eight  or  mi\e 
*•  fell  in  the  work,  who  were  too  much  loaded  with  the  fpoils  of  the  eneniv  ; 
»«  among  whom  was  Dr.  Conyers,  Sec.  After,  then,  all  endeavours  to  reftra in 
«•  the  contagion  had  proved  oi  no  effctt,  we  applied  ourfelves  altogetlier  to  the 
41  cure  of  the  difeafed." 

We  (hall  n©trdoubt  of  the  good  intentions  of  the  phyficians  :  of  their  fuccefs 
•we  may  judge  from  what  Dr.  Hodg?s  himfelf  fays,  that  many  died  while  pic- 
icribing  cures  for  others.  To  tlie  fame  purpofe  the  journalift,  p.  43  :  «•  I 
*«  Hull  not  befuppofed  to  Uflen  the  authority  or  capacity  of  the  phyficians^ 
««  when  I  lay  that  the  violence  of  the  dilternper,  when  it  came  to  its  extremity. 
<«  was  like  the  fire  the  next  year  (1666).  Trie  lire  which  confumed  what  the 
«'  plague  could  not  touch,  defied  all  the  application  of  remedies ;  the  fire- en-. 
«'  gines  were  brokan,  the  buckets  thrown  away-  and  the  power  of  man  was 
*«  baffled  and  brought  to  an  end;  fo  the  plague  d<-h.u  all  ;  .e  >icine ;  thu 
»f  very  phyficians  were  feized  with  it,  with  their  prelcrvutives  in  their  mouthi  , 


APPENDIX.  553 

**  and  men  went  about  prefcribing  to  others,  and  telling  them  what  to  do, 
»«  till  the  tokens  were  upon  iiiem,  and  they  dropped  down  dead,  deftroyed  by 
"  that  very  enemy  they  dire£led  others  to  oppofe.  This  was  the  cale  of  ieveral 
*«  phyfjcians,  even  fome  of  the  moft  eminent,  and  of  ieveral  of  the  molt  fkilful 

*  iurgeons  ;  abundance  of  quacks  too  diedi  who  had  the  folly  to  trufl  to  their 

*  own  medicines,"  &c. 

Thus,  in  defiance  of  every  effort  of  human  (kill,  the  calamity  continued. 
«  The  contagion  (fays  Dr.  Hodges)  fpread  its  cruelties  into  the  neighbouring 
'countries;  for  the  citizens,  who  crowded  in  multitudes  into  the  adjacent 

*  towns,  carried  the  infection  along  with  them,  where  it  raged  with   equal 
'•fury  ;  fo  that  the  plague,  which  at  firft  crept  from  one  ftreet  to  another,  now 

*  reigned  over  whole  counties,  leaving  hardly  any   place  free  from  its  infult» 
«  and  the  towns  upon  the  Thames  were  more  feverely  handled  ;  not,  perhaps, 
«  from  a  greater  moifture  in  the  air  from  thence,  but  from  the  tainted  goods 
1  rather,  that  were  carried  upon  it  :  moreover  fome  cities  and  town?,  of  tfes 
<  moft  advantageous  fituation  for  a  wholefome  air,  did,  notwithflanding,   feel 
«  the  common  uiin.     Such  was  the  rife>  and  fuch  the  progreis,  of  this  cruel 

*  deftroyef,  which  firft  began  at  London."* 

But  it  is  now  time  to  turn  from  thofefcenes  of  horror.     The   power  of  the 

peftilential  contagion  was  not  abfolutely  immeafurable.       It  had  its  rife,  its 

progrefs,  its  ftare  and  declenfion.     Dr.  Hodges  tells  us  that,  •when  ««  the  <worft 

part  of  the  year  t9af  over,  and  the  height  of  the  dlfeafe*  the  plague  by  leifurely 

degrees  declined,  and  before  the  number  infected  decreafed,  its   malignity 

'  began  to  relax,  infomuch  that  few  died,    and  thole  chiefly  fuch  as   were  ill 

'  managed  j    hereupon  that  dread  which  had  been  upon  the  minds  of  the 

«  people  wore  off;  and  the  Tick  cheerfully   vfed  all  the  tneans  directed  for  their 

«  recovery  ;  and  even  the  nurfes  grew  either  more  cautious,  or  more  faithful  ; 

*  infbrnuch  that  after  fome  time  a  dawn  of  health  appeared*  as  fudden,  and  as 
«  unexpected,  as  the  ceffation  af  the  following  conflagration  ;   wherein,  after 
«  blowing  up  of  houfes-,  and  ufing  all  means  for  its  extinction  to  little  purpofe* 
«  theflames  flopped  as  it  were  of  themfelves  for  want  of  fuel,  or,  out  cfjhame* 

*  for  having  done  fo  much  uiifchief.     The  peftilence,  however,  did  not  ftop  far: 
want  of  fubjedls  to  adl  upon,  (as  fhen  commonly   rumouied)    but  from  the 
nature  of  the  diftemper.    Its  decreafe  was,  like  its  beginnings,  moderate,  &c. 
About  the  clofe  of  the  year,  that  is,  on1  the  beginning  of  November,  people 
grew  more  healthful,"  &c. 

The  numbers  who  periihed  in  this  violent  plague  are  fo  variously  reported 

that  nothing  certain  can  be  faid  concerning  it.     Dr.  Morton  fays  that  upwards 

cf  forty  thoufand  died  ;   but  from  the  foregoing  accounts  it  is  evident  that 

this  calculation  muft  be  prodigioufiy  underrated.     The  journalift  indeed  gives 

ftrong  reafons  for  believing  that  all  the  accounts  of  the  numbers  who  perifhed 

were  much  below  the  truth.      H«  thinks  that  an  hundred  thoufand  at  leaft 

muft  have  fallen  victims  to  it  ;  and  if  his  own  aflertion  be  true,   that  thirty 

thoufand  died  In  the  lalt  three  weeks,  vv«  cannot  fuppofe  but  that  three  times 

that  number  died  in  the  courfe  of  the  twelvemonth  that    the   difeafe  lafted  ; 

\vhich  would  fix  the  calculation  at  120,000.      This  great  mortality    however 

was  foon  forgot  ;  as  foon  as  the  danger  was  over,  the  ravages  it  had  committed 

vfere  no  longer  an  objeft  of  terror.      The  difeafe  had  its  ufual  effect,  viz.  in- 

creafing  the  defire  of  the  fexes  for  each  other.     «  They  had  the  courage  (fays 

Dr.  Hodges)  now  to  marry  again,  and  betake  to  the  means  of  repairing  the 

paft  mortality  ;  and  even  women   before  deemed  barren  were  faid  to  prove 

prolific  ;  fo  that,  although  the  contagion  had  carried  off,  as  fome  computed, 

about  one  hundred  thoufand,  after  a  few  months  their  lofs  was  hardly  dii- 


Hodges,  p,  25 


IV. 


554  A  P  P  E  N  D  I  X. 


N°    IV. 

Account  of  the  Plague  at  Marfeilles  in  1720  : — From  the 
Periodical  Publications  of  the  time. 

SO  much  hath  been  faid  concerning  this  plague,  in  the  firft  part  of  this 
treatife,  that  no  particular  detail  is  requifite  here.  In  its  fymptoms  it 
differed  little  if  any  thing  from  the  plague  of  London,  defcribed  in  the  former 
number.  Many  died  without  any  previous  ficknefs*  and,  while  the  diltemper 
continued  fevere,  few  outlived  the  third  day  ;  and  fo  infectious  was  its  nature, 
that  oae  perfon  ia  a  family  was  feldom  attacked  without  its  fucceffively  at« 
tacking  all  the  reft.  The  bodies  were  faid  to  putrefy  in  24  hours.  Very 
conliderable  fums  of  money  were  colleded  here,  as  well  as  in  London.  The 
conduct  of  the  bilhop  on  this  melancholy  occan'on  has  been  greatly  cele* 
brated  by  many ;  among  others  by  Dr.  Darwin,  in  his  Botanic  Garden*  in 
the  following  lines : 

«'  So  when  Contagion*  with  mephitic  breath* 

«*  And  wither'd  Famine,  urg'd  the  work  of  death  ; 

*«  *  Marfei lies'  good  Bifhop,  London's  gen'rous  Mayor* 

•«  With  food  and  faith,  with  med'cine  and  witfe  prayer» 

««  Rais'd  the  weak  head,  and  ftay'd  the  parting  iigh, 

«•  Or  with  new  life  rehim'd  the  fwimming  eye. 

«<  ^  The  bHhop  of  Marfeilles,  during  the  time  of  this  rmferable  calamity* 
41  was  indefatigable  in  the  execution  of  his  pafloral  office,  viflting,  relieving, 
"  encouraging  and  abfolving  the  fick  with  extreme  tendernefs  ;  and  though 
<•  perpetually  expofed  to  the  infection,  like  Sir  John  Lawrence,  the  lord  mayor 
<«  of  London  in  1665,  was  never  feized  with  the  difeafe — This  lad  gentleman* 
«'  with  undaunted  refolution,  continued  rn  the  city  during  the  whale  time  of  the 
««  calamity,  executing  the  duties  of  his  office  with  the  utmoft  punctuality. 
<«  The  day  after  the  difeafe  was  certainly  known  to  be  the  plague,  above 
«*  40)000  fei'vants  were  difmifled,  and  turned  into  the  ftreets  to  perilh,  for  no 
*«  one  would  receive  them  into  their  houfes ;  and  the  villages  rear  London 
»*  drove  them  away  with  pitchforks  and  fire-arms.  Sir  John  Lawrence 
«•  fuppoited  ibem  all*  as  well  the  needy  as  thofe  \\ho  were  fick  ;  at  fiift  fey 
«'  expending  his  own  fortune,  till  fubfcriptions  could  be  folicited  and 
««  received  from  all  parts  of  the  nation."  (Dartvitt*s  Botanic  Garden* 
of  the  Planttt  canto  ii,  p*  6l.} 


V. 

Account  of  ilie  Plague  in  Syria,  Cyprus  tsV. — From  Dr< 
PATRICK  RUSSEL^   Treatife. 

HpHIS  plague  was  preceded  by  violent  cold,  famine,  an d  earthquake*. 
A  In  1759  lt  began  in  Egypt,  having  been  imported  in  a  vefiel  from 
Conftantinople.  From  Alexandria  in  Egypt  it  was  brought  fey  feme  Jews 
to  Saftat,  a  village  in  Syria,  near  Aleppo,'  which  had  fuffcreef  much  by  the 
earthquake  ;  which  laft  was  for  fome  time  thought  to  have  been  the  caufe 
of  the  diftemper ;  but,  when  its  nature  was  really  difcovered,  they  comforted 
themfelves  with  the  thoughts  that  an  Egyptian  plague  was  lefs  to  be  dreaded 
than  one  which  came  from  the  northward. 

The  diftemper  had  been  introduced  into  Cyprus   as  early  as  April  t75gt 
by  a  veflel  from  Con ftantinople,  wrecked   on  the   coaft  ;    and,  having  thus 
footing  in  Egypt,  Syria  and  Cyprus»  its  progrefs  was  marked  with  the 

ufual 


APPENDIX. 

•iifual  mortality.  ID  Egypt  the  Europeans  in  Cairo  remained  in  confinement 
till  the  middle  of  July  ;  a  fpace  considerably  longer  than  nfual.  Next  year 
they  (hut  up  on  the  9th  of  March,  but  were  releafed  on  the  »4th  of  June. 
The  diftemper  raged  in  the  cify  with  fuch  fury  during  1759  and  1760,  that 
in  the  two  years  lour  hundred  and  fifty  thoufand  were  computed  to  hav* 
periflied j  a  number,  however  which  Dr.  Ruffel  thinks  muft  have  been  ex- 
aggerated. Csiro  had  been  free  from  plague  during  the  whole  of  this  century 
beforet  axcept  -in  the  year  1736,  when  the  diftemper  raged  with  fuch  violence 
that  ten  thaufand  were  faid  to  have  perifhed  in  one  day.  It  was  fuppofed  to 
have  been  brought  from  Upper  Egypt.  In  Cyprus  it  broke  out  at  the  village 
of  Limfolt  where  it  deftroyed  four  hundred  people.  During  the  hot  months 
of  July»  Auguft  and  September  the  infection  fhowed  itfelf  fo  little  that  it  was 
thought  to  have  been  extinguished .;  but  in  October  it  not  only  reappeared  in 
the  places  where  it  had  before  ftiowed  itfelf,  but  invaded  Nicofia,  the  capital 
ef  the  ifland.  Endeavours  were  ufedt  by  burying  the  dead  bodies  in  the 
night,  to  conceal  the  exiftence  of  the  diftemper  ;  but  this  foon  became  im- 
practicable. Towards  the  end  of  January,  1760,  it  raged  fo  dreadfully  in 
this  city  that  the  Mahometans  were  enjoined  to  ufe  prayers  and  proceflions  . 
to  avert  the  wrath  of  Heaven.  The  crowds  brought  together  on  this  occafion 
fpread  the  diftemper  ftill  more  wide,  and  in  the  following  month  its  ravages 
began  at  Larnica,  a  fmall  town  confiderable  for  its  trade,  and  which*  though 
alarmed,  had  hitherto  kept  free,  even  though  infected  perfons  had  been  freely 
admitted.  Here  it  raged  with  uncommon  malignity,  infomuch  that  few  of 
thofe  recovered  that  were  infected  during  the  month  of  March.  It  continued 
to  prevail  till  the  month  of  April,  when  it  fpread  to  the  very  eaftern  extre- 
mity of  the  iftand,  into  the  province  of  Carpafs  $  a  thing  hitherto  unknown. 

Two  examples  of  apparent  infufceptibiiity  are  related ;  one  was  a  young 
Greek,  whofe  conftant  employment  was,  to  nurfe  the  fick,  and  affift  at  the 
burials  ;  the  other,  a  Greek  woman,  who,  having  with  great  affection  nurfed 
her  hufband  and  two  daughters  who  died  of  the  plague*  continued  with  admU 
arable  courage  to  expofe  herlelf  in  affifting  the  fick  in  the  neighbourhood. 

Towards  the  end  of  May  the  infection  was  rapidly  decreafing ;  the  Euro- 
peans came  out  of  their  confinement  in  the  month  of  July,  and  the  plague  at 
laft  ceafed,  after  having  deftroyed  70,000  perfons  j  nearly  one  half  of  the 
whole  population. 

In  Syria  the  plague  appeared  firft  in  October,  1759,  in  the  village  of  Saffat. 
Trom  thence  it  proceeded  to  Tripoli,  where  it  began  about  the  middle  of 
January,  and  did  not  decline  till  July;  neither  were  the  Europeans  tho- 
roughly reieafed  from  their  confinement  till  towards  the  end  of  Aaguft.  One 
Jialf  of  thofe  infected  are  faid  to  have  recovered  j  but  five  thoufand  perifhed. 
The  city  remained  free  from  any  attack  during  the  whole  of  1761  ;  but  early 
in  1762  the  diftemper  again  made  its  appearance  in  the  neighbouring  villages* 
and  again  began  its  devouring  ravages;  but,  though  a  free  accefs  was  granted 
to  infected  perfons  in  the  city,  it  does  not  appear  that  any  general  infection 
took  place. 

In  Latarkea  the  diftemper  appeared  in  March,  1760,  made  confiderable  pro- 
grefs  during  the  month  of  April,  increafed  from  the  I7th  of  that  month  to 
the  ijth  of  May,  raged  with  great  violence  from  that  time  to  the  *7th  of 
June,  when  it  fuddenly  decreafed,  the  funerals-  falling  from  30  to  9.  OR 
the  4th  and  5th  of  July  they  again  rofe  to  more  than  20,  but  prefently  fell 
below  fix.  Four  thoufand  were  fuppofed  to  have  died,  though  it  was  thought 
that  as  many  recovered  as  perijhcd.  At  Jerufalem  the  contagion  difcovered 
itfelf  in  January  or  February,  1760,  and  about  the  middle  of  March  reached 
Pamafcus,  In  both  places  it  made  great  havock,  but  no  accurate  account? 
were  kept  of  thofe  who  died. 


VI, 


556  APPENDIX. 

N°    VI. 

Remarkable  cafe  of  a  Remitting  Fever  at  Bafforak  In  1780, 

IN  the  firft  part  of  this  treatife  we  have  given  an  account  of  the  fever  which 
prevailed  at  Baflbrah  during  the  year  we  {'peak  of,  and  likewift  of  the 
journey  of  the  gentleman  from  Baflbrah  to  Zebire,  where  he  was  taken  ill  on 
the  4th  of  June  ;  but  as  the  firii  attack  went  off  for  that  day,  we  (hall  only 
begin  the  narrative  from  the  day  following*  aS  he  himfelf  does  in  thefe  words  : 

5th  June.  From  this  day  I  date  the  aftual  commencsment  of  my  fever. 
About  2  o'clock  after  dinner  1  was  fuddenly  attacked  with  a  violent  glowing 
heat  all  over  my  body>  uneafinefo,  anxiety  and  oppreffion,  but  in  a  very  in- 
confiderable  degree  to  what  I  afterwards  experienced  ;  alfo  a  fwelling  in  my 
tongue»  which  had  been  corning  on  fome  daysi  and  is  one  of  the  firft  fymp- 
toms of  the  fever  that  prevailed.  The  fit  continued  about  two  hours ;  a 
flight  perlpiration  fucceeded,  which  removed  the  fever,  but  left  a  head-ach? 
thirft,  and  pains  in  my  back  snd  limbs.  In  the  evening  with  affiftance  I  got 
upon  the  terrace,  when  the  moon  and  flats  appeared  of  a  bright  yellow,  and 
all  objects  had  that  colour  through  the  whole  of  my  difeafc ;  alfo  th&  pain  in 
making  water,  and  acrois  my  loins,  became  intolerable,  like  that  felt  in  com- 
plaints of  the  ftone  in  the  bladder.  I  took  fome  tartar  emetic,  which  brought 
up  a  great  deal  of  bile,_and  the  next  morning  a  purgative  of  RocheJle  falts» 
manna*  tamarinds  afid  annifeeds. 

6th  June.  In  the  forenoon  a  free,  copious  perfpiration»  and  a  perfect  inter- 
miflion  of  the  fever  ;  at  night  became  very  rcftleis  and  uneafy,  could  not 
fleep,  which  I  partly  imputed  to  a  draught  of  ftrong  muftard  whey,  with, 
fome  aniimonial  wine,  which,  inflead  oi  caufing  perfpi ration,  produced  the 
oppofite  effect. 

yth.  By  the  advice  of  a  phyfician  I  took  fome  weak  decoction  of  bark,  i  oz, 
to  two  pints  boiled  to  one,  in  the  quantity  of  three  tea-cupfuls  before  dinner. 
At  three  in  the  afternoon  I  had.  another  hot  fit,  but  not  very  fevere.  In  the 
evening  grew  worfe — heat  and  thirft  exceffive — drank  muftard  whey  on  going 
to  bed,  but  had  a  very  bad  night— no  deep,  much  oppreffed*  fevere  head-ach, 
and  pain  over  my  loins. 

8th.  Took  a  gentle  purge  of  cream  of  tartar  and  rmwna,  which  operated* 
and  gave  me  fome  eafe  Left  off  the  bark,  as  it  feemed  to  increafe  the  febrile 
fymptoms,  and  drank  fage  and  apple  tea.  decoction  of  prunes,  tamarinds,  &c. 
At  ID  o'clock  in  the  forenoon  a  very  fevere  hot  fit;  heat  intenfe,  oppreffion 
in  my  ftomacrt  and  breaft  almoft  infuffesable.  Mr. ,  furgeon  of  the  Ea- 
gle cruifer,  gave  me  a  molt  nauleous  faline  mixture,  which  vomited  and  pur- 
ged me  feverely-  The  quantity  of  bile  which  came  off  my  ftomach  was  incre- 
dible* yet  I  felt  no  relief,  and  the  agony  of  the  hot  fit  continued,  till  4 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  when  it  went  off  by  a  mo  ft  prof  nfe  perlpiration. 
During  this  fit  my  thirft  was  conftant  and  intenfe.  In  the  evening  my  fkin 
became  dry,  the  thirft  returned,  and  I  had  a  very  bad,  fleeplefs  night. 

I  now  began  to  experience  fome  of  the  dreadful  fymptoms  which  are,  I  be- 
lieve, peculiar  to  fevers  in  Turky  arid  Arabia  j  a  fenfation/>f  dread  and  horror, 
totally  unconnected  with  the  fear  of  death  ;  for,  while  the  patient  is  nroft  af- 
flicted with  thii  iymfifom,  it  is  for  the  moft  part  accompanied  with  a  ftrong 
defire  to  put  an  end  to  hi;  exiftence  The  agony  from  the  heat  of  the  body 
is  beyond  conception.  I  have  heard  fome  qt  my  fellow  fujierers  roar  hide- 
ouflv  un-.k-r  the  violence  of  the  pain. 

gth  Till  noon  tolerably  well  About  i  o'clock  the  hot  fit  attacked  me, 
and  was  full  as  levere  as  vefterday  ;  heat  and  thirft  rather  greater,  and  but 
little  relief  ior  more  than  an  hour  after  the  perforation  commenced.  'This 
attack  left  me  very  weak,  much  exhaufted,  with  cold,  weakening  fweats, 
quick  unequal  pulfe.  fevere  head-ach,  eonfufion,  anxiety  and  inceflant  thirft  ; 
a  fl'-e  -Icfs  night,  ftauingj>j  anxieties,  and  a  eonftant  wi(h  to  terminate  my 
luftenngs  by  death. 

joth.  Forenoons 


APPENDIX.  557 

loth.  Forenoon*  pretty  free  from  fever.  Attacked  at  the  fame  hour  a* 
yefterdav.  The  fit  more  violent— delirium  The  agony  of  the  heat  not  to 
be  expreffed ;  the  whole  body  as  if  on  fire ;  unremitting  thirft,  profqfe  per- 
fpiration,  yet  no  relief  till  late  in  the  evening  ;  no  fleep,  a  dreadful  night,  &c. 
Pulfe  about  izo,  unequal  and  fluttering. 

A  mere  relation  of  fadls  can  give  but  a  faint  idea  of  the  v/retched  fituation  to 
which  the  factory  was  now  reduced:  by  this  time  eleven  twelfths  of  the  inhabi- 
tants of  Bullbrah  were  taken  ill.  numbers  were  daily  dying*  and  the  reports  from 
Bagdad  and  Diarbekir,  of  the  increasing  ravages  of  the  plague,  left  the  furvivor* 
not  a  ray  of  hope  that  they  could  cfcape  the  calamity.  On  every  counte- 
nance pain,  ficknefs  and  hon-  r  .vcre  ftrongly  painted  ;  nor  were  we  even  left 
the  comforts  of  fympathy,  as  every  m>nd  was  too  much /engroffed  with  its  own 
fufierings  to  think  of  adminiftering  coniolation  to  others.  Four  of  us  lay  un- 
der the  portico  of  one  of  the  fquares  of  the  faclory,  calling  out  for  water  in  a 
frenzy  of  thirft.  VVe  ufe<t  t;>  fnatch  it  from  each  other,  and  to  fupplicate  for 
a  mouthful  with  as  much  fervour  as  a  dying  criminal  for  an  hour  of  further 
lire. 

About  this  period  of  the  fever  my  eyes  became  very  weak,  and  every  ob- 
jeci  I  faw  was  quire  yellow.  This  efFedl  was  moft  perceptible  at  night,  in 
looking  at  the  moon  and  ftars.  In  the  evenings  we  were  fometimes  carried 
in  our  cots  upon  the  terrace  of  the  failory  for  air  ;  but  the  wind  was  fo  heated 
by  the  burning  fands  of  the  drferf,  that  we  felt  i»-  more  intolerable  than  even  the 
lower  apartments  We  all  remarked  that  the  fiemaa/,  or  north  winds,  which 
blew  without  intermiflTion  at  that  time,  greatly  increafed  our  heat  and  thirft. 

The  daily  very  evident  incveafe  of  my  fever,  and  its  etiTstls  upen  others  be- 
coming more  fatal  and  alarming,  determined  me,  while  any  ftrength  remain- 
ed, to  embrace  theconful's  pffer  ol 'flying  from  the  feat  of  infe&ion  to  Bufhire, 
in  the  Ranger  cruifer. 

iith.  After  an  exceeding  bad  night  I  was  carried  early  in  the  morning  on 
board  the  Ranger,  and  was  not  very  ill  until  about  9  o'clock*  when  t  felt  the 
fever  coming  on,  with  new  and  more  alarming  fymptoms — violent  head-ach, 
giddinefs,  dimnefs  of  fight,  approaching  delirium,  horror,  and  a  moft  painful 
oppreflion  and  burning  heat  in  my  ftomach. 

In  defpair,  and  to  try  to  quench  the  unfufferafele  heat  in  my  ftomach  and 
bowels,  I  took  a  pretty  large  dofe  of  nitre.  The  opprefllon  and  pain  in- 
creafed ;  in  my  co*fufion  I  took  a  paper  of  tartar  emetic,  which  immediately  be- 
gan to  operate.  From  that  time,  about  ten  o'clock,  till  half  paft  two  in  the 
afternoon,  I  know  but  little  of  what  paiTed  :  [  was  almoft  all  that  time  either 
diftradted  with  pain,  or  in  a  fwoon  ;  and  had  it  not  been  for  the  extraordinary 
care  and  attention  of  the  commander  of  the  cruifer,  who  fupported  me  in  his 
arms,  and  adminiftered  fuch  cordials  as  I,  in  the  ihort  moments  of  recollec- 
tion, could  call  for,  I  have  not  a  doubt  but  I  muft  have  funk  under  this  attack. 
He  counted  eight  times  that  I  fainted,  and  fometimes  an  interval  often  mi- 
nutes before  he  could  perceive  any  fymptoms  of  returning  life.  I  was  chiefly 
Supported  by  wine,  hartihorn,  and  fpirits  of  lavender.  About  three  o'clock  I 
had  recovered  my  recoliedion  :  molt  copious  and  continued  fweats  had  car- 
ried offthe  violence  of  the  fever  ;  but  faintings  and  total  privation  of  ftrength 
and  fpirits  remained  upon  me  till  late  in  the  evening,  when  I  became  to  all  ap- 
pearance, for  a  Ihort  time,  perfectly  well.  A  little  ftrength  returned,  every 
fymptom  of  fever  vanilhed,  and  my  feelings  were  almoft  the  fame  as  if  in  per- 
fect health.  Some  circumftances  having  prevented  the  Ranger's  carrying  me 
to  Bufhire,  I  was  taken  afhore  in  the  evening.  When  I  was  brought  to  the  lac- 
tory  I  had  an  appetite,  and  ate  fome  chicken  broth  for  fupper.  Mr.  Rofs, 
^vho  had  hitherto  efcaped  the  fever,  adminiftered  a  potion  of  laudanum,  and, 
I  believe,  antimonial  \vjne,  on  going  to  reft.  I  flept  pretty  well,  and  awoke  re- 
frefliedin  the  morning  J,  however,  foon  became  ill,  andatnoon  1  had  afevere 
attack,  which  continued  three  or  four  hours,  and  left  me  greatly  weakened,  my 
{kin  extremely  dry,  pulfe  quick,  fluttering  and  irregular,  beating  from  100  to 
:zo,  with  an  unquenchable  thirft,  which  no  liquids  could  allay.  We  had  no 
acids  of  any  kind,  wnich  we  had  fcreat  realbn  to  regret. 

I  did  net  know  till  late  in  the  evening  that  Mr.  Abrahasn,  the  vice-conful* 
Vjio  for  fome  days  pall  had  been  ill  of  the  fame  fever,  had  determined  lo  em- 
barb 


558  APPENDIX. 

|»rk  in  the  Eagle  cruifer  next  morning  for  Buftiire,  as  the  only  •hanee  of  fa*? 
ing  liis  life ;  and  a  converfation  which  I  overheard  to  this  effecl,  that  as  I  was 
fa  very  ill,  and  no  hopes  of  my  recovery,  it  would  be  better  to  leave  me  to  die 
at  Bufforah,  made  me  (till  more  anxious  to  fly  from  the  place,  although  I  re- 
member well  1  had  not  the  moft  diftant  hope  that  I  could  live.  I  had  fuf- 
feredrrmch  at  the  factory,  and  in  the  peeviihnefs  of  illnefs  I  thought  (perhaps 
enjuftly)  that  my  living  or  dying  feemed  to  be  a  matter  of  too  little  confe» 
quence  to  thofe  whom  in  health  I  had  treated  with  much  kindnefs  and  af- 
fedion. 

About  ten  o'clock,  as  I  was  lying  in  my  cot,  on  a  terrace  adjoining  the 
Hairs  from  whence  the  boat  was  to  put  off,  I  wasfeized  with  fuch  a  fluttering, 
palpitation,  ftarting,  difficulty  of  utterance  from  the  fwelling  of  my  tongue, 
that  I  lay  in  momentary  expectation  of  breathing  my  laft.  This  was,  however, 
probably  the  caufe  of  my  hearing  the  preparations  for  the  departure  of  the 
"boat.  About  midnight  they  were  leaving  the  fhore.  I  could  not  make  my- 
feif  heard",  and  I  was  too  weak  to  get  up  without  help.  I  made  feveral  ef- 
forts, and  at  laft  overfet  the  cot  I  was  lying  upon,  and  brought  myfelf  to  the 
floor,  from  whence  I  crawled  on  my  hands  and  knees  to  the  fide  of  the  river. 
Humanity  pleaded  for  me,  and  I  was  taken  into  the  boat,  rn  a  fiuation  of 
wretchednefs  J  never  can  forget.  We  were,  after  being-  feveral  hours  on  the 
Euphrates,  carried  o-n  board  the  Eagle,  oppofi re  to  Margil,  a  country  houfe 
fcelongrng  to  the  factory,  a  few  miles  diltant  from  Hufforah. 

rtth.  The  day  was  uncommonly  hot|  and  my  fever  came  upon  me  about 

*en  o'clock.  The  heat  was  intenfe.  Mr  ,  a  young  unexperienced 

Frenchman,  gave  me  tamarind  water  and  cream  of  tartar,  which  had  not  a 
good  effect.  I  now  difcerned  the  firft  fymptom  of  a  cold  fit;  but  it  was 
Bight  and  of  fhort  duration.  This  day,  however,  I  fupported  the  fever  ra- 
ther better  than  ufual,  and  in  the  evening  had  a  (hort  intermiflion,  and  flept 
alittfe  during  the  night.  The  air  on  the  river  was  this  day  cooler  and  more 
sefreihing  than  on  ihore. 

rjth.  About  eleven  o'clock  had  a  regular  cold  miyering  fit,  fuccecded  by 
stvery  fevere  hot  fever,  which  continued  till  five  in  the  eveningi  when  I  was 
fbmewhat  relieved  by  perfpiration.  This  day  the  agony  of  the  hot  fir  was 
Hiexpreffible,  with  great  pain  in  my  loins,  and  aconft-mt  inclination  to  make 
water,  which  came  from-  me  in  drops  like  blood-  I  had  a  very  bad,  fleepleft 
aiglit. 

i4th.  By  Mr. •'s  advice  I  took  a  dofe«of  tartar  emetic,  which  not 

workisg.  he  gave  me  forAe  ipecacuanha.  I  brought  up  a  great  deal  of  bile* 
'out  the  fever  increafing,  my  fufferings  under  it  were  greatly  increafed  by  the 
operation  of  the  emetic,  which  worked  powerfully  both  upwards  and  down- 
wards. This  was  a  trying  day  indeed.  I  can  give  no  idea  of  what  1  fuf- 
fered,  which  muft  have  been  intolerable,  attended  with  intervals  of  delirium 
and  frequently  fwooning.  About  five  the  fever  began  to  abate  a  little,  and 

and  at  iix  Nfr. gave  me  a  fmall  dofe  of  decoclion  of  bark,  which  feem- 

edinflrantly  to  caufe  a  return  of  the  fever,  heat,  thirfi,  anxiety  and  pain. 

My  fe  1 1 o-vv-f offerer,  Mr.  Abraham,  was  in  violent  agony  this  day  ;  he  cried 
out  repeatedly  that  a  fire  was  con  fuming  his  bowels,  and  that  he  was  in  ex- 
<juifite  torture.  The  captain  of  the  crurfer  had  been  complaining  ;  he,  Mr. 
Abraham  and  myfelf  lay  in  the  fame  cabin.  About  4  o'clock  in  the  after- 
woon,  when  my  pain  was  exceffive,  I  crawled  from  my  cot,  with  an  inten- 
tion to  drop  myfelf  from  a  port-hole  which  was  under  the  captain's 
ked,  into  the  river.  I  had  nearly  accomplished  my  purpofe,  when  the  cap- 
tain perceived  me,  and  had  me  carried  into  my  bed.  I  was  not  delirious; 
and,  in  fpite  of  all  my  reloiutiou,  the  agony  I  fuifered  this  day  made  me 
repeatedly  fcream  cut.  One  of  our  feamen  died  fudc-jnly,  and  the  blood,  1 
was  told,  inflanily  flowed  from  all  parts  of  his  body. 

This  everihig  we  arrived  at  Buihire.  On  our  coming  to  an  anchor  Mr. 
Abraham  was  immediately  carried  aihore  ;  but  I  was  too  ill  to  be  moved, 
and  accordingly  followed  in  the  morning  with  Capt.  Sheriffi  after  a  very 
i'cvere,  lleeplefs  night. 

The  heat  was  IbexcefRve  this  day  that  even  the  natives  we  had  on  board  funk 
under  n,  and  many  of  tl>em  were  ftiuck  down  with  the  fun,  By  noon  nobody 

couUL 


APPENDIX.  559 

«ouH  Tceep  the  deck ;  and  about  this  time  the  veiTel  ran  aground  on  the  bar  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Euphrates,  but  fortunately  beat  over,  and  got  into  the  gulf* 
Two  more  of  our  people  died  in  the  evening ;  and  I  ihould  have  mentioned  that* 
in  faiiiup  down  the  river,  we  law  them  throwing  many  dead  bodies  from  the 
vefiel.-  which  were  at  anchor  below  Builbrah,  and  many  boats  crowded  with 
|»e<">pir  iYoin  the  Arabian  ihore(  pafling  over  to  Periia. 

The  Perjjans  at  firft  oppofed  the  landing  of  our  lick,  and  threatened  to  bura 
the  ihip  ;  but  they  were  prevailed  upon  by  the  company's  agent  at  Bulhire* 
a  moft  worthy  man,  to  permit  us  to  come  afhore. 

i $th.  i  was  fo  weak  that  it  was  with  difficulty  they  could  carry  me  afhore 
in  my  cot ;  my  ftrength  was  quite  gone,  and  I  was  helplefs  as  an  infant. 
Some  grapes,  water-melon  and  ice  had  been  got  for  Mr.  Abraham  :  of  the 
latter  he  had  eaten  freely  ;  I  was  much  p  re  fled  to  do  the  fame,  but  was  afraid 
of  its  increafing  my  pain,  and  could  hardly  be  prevailed  upon  to  tafte  it ;  I* 
however,  fwallowed  a  little,  but  by  this  time  my  tongue  and  throat  were  fo 
iwelled  that  I  had  difficulty  in  getting  any  thing  down.  About  10  o'clock 
I  was  attacked  as  ufual;  but  I  was  become  fo  weak)  and  the  fever  running 
higher  than  ufual,  that  1  appeared  in  the  courfe  of  this  day,  more  than  once, 
to  be  in  the  agonies  of  death  ;  perfpiration  gave  no  relief  to  the  violent  pain 
and  opprefllon  I  laboured  under. 

The  fadtory  at  Bufhire  is  a  miserable,  wretched  mud  building,  bearing 
snore  refemblance  to  a  ftable  than  a  human  abode :  the  few  rooms,  or  rather 
cells,  are  infufFerably  hot,  even  to  thofe  in  health,  and  the  reft  of  the 
building  has  no  cover  from  the  fun.  In  one  of  the  beft  of  thefe  receiTes  in: 
ffee  wall  Mr.  Abraham  and  I  were  placed,  and  on  the  lame  bed,  as  there  was 
riot  room  enough  for  two  :  our  agonies  were  great,  and  our  cries  dreadful* 
About  7  o'clock  in  the  evening  I  perceived  my  companion  in  the  agonies  oi 
4eath.  The  company's  agent,  Mr.  Beaumont,  moft  humanely  afforded  -bin* 
every  afliftance  in  his  power ;  and  when  every  other  perfon  was  afraid  t» 
come  near  us,  he  himlelf  attended,  aad  administered  fwch  cordials  as  he 
thought  might  give  us  relief.  Mr.  Abraham  died  in  great  pain ;  and,  for 
fear  of  alarming  the  inhabitants,  or  rather  commandant  or  fheik  of  the  town* 
Mr.  Beaumont  thought  it  neceilary  to  conceal  his  death.  It  was  fome  time 
before  the  dead  body  could  be  removed,  which  had  become  very  putrid,  and 
covered  with  purpJe  fpots.  1  have  been  lince  told  that  immediately  after 
death  a  great  quantity  of  blood  or  bile  flowed  from  him  as  black  as  ink,  and 
fo  higlily  offeniive  as  to  be  fmelt  at  fome  diftance  from  the  fadory.  Paft 
midnight  we  were  both  removed  to  the  terrace,  but,  unfortunately  for  me* 
there  was  only  one  fpot  where  we  could  lie,  and  the  fmell  of  the  dead  body 
became  intolerable;  I  was,  however,  cleaned  and  put  into  another  bed  by 
the  humane  afliftance  of  Mr.  BeaumoHt,  who  fat  by  me,  and  treated  me  with 
uncommon  tendernefs.  1  recovered  a  UttJe>  but  paffed  a  dreadful  night  ia- 
<leed.  I  fliuddered  at  the  agony  which  I  was  to  feei  on  the  return  of  the 
fun,  and  moft  anxioufly  wifhed  for  death,  as  the  only  relief  from  pain  that  I, 
could  expecl.  1  was  unable  at  thk  time  to  raove  hand  or  foot,  and  at  limes 
could  not  fpeak.  I  told  Mr.  Beaumont  that  I  thought  a  gentie  dofe  of  phy- 
fic,  if  it  could  be  got  down,  might  alleviate  the  racking  pain  in  my  breaft* 
ftomach,  bowels  and  loins ;  he  accordingly  prepared  fome  fails,  manna  a  ni 
tamarinds,  and  gave  it  to  me  in  the  morning. 

i6th.  At  eleven  o'clock  the  violence  of  the  fever  came  on;  I  grew  delirious* 
fwooned,  and  the  fymptoms  of  approaching  death,  I  was  afterwards  told» 
grew  evident  to  thofe  around  me.  My  eyes  were  fixed,  my  tongue  hung  from 
my  mouth,  and  my  face  grew  qaite  black.  I  recovered  from  this  fit  about 
twelve  o'-clock,  and  felt  excruciating  pain,  and  a  burning,  fuffbcating  heat. 
My  ftomach  and  bowels  feemed  all  on  fire,  my  lungs  played  with  the  utmoft 
Difficulty,  and  I  felt  a  pain  and  fenfation  about  my  heart  which  I  cannot  de- 
furibe.  I  was  unable  to  move;  my  fervant  lifted  me;  I  fell  into  a  fwoon  for 
a  few  minutes,  and,  when  I  came  t®  myfelf,  a  great  quantity  of  black  putrid 
bile  flowed  from  me.  Relief  was  inftantaneous,  and  I  flept  or  fwooned  till 
about  5  o'clock,  when  I  found  myfelf  free  from  fever,  and  able  to  fpeak,  my 
recolledion  clear,  and  ray  mind  perfectly  compofed,  but  my  body  fo  weak 
that  I  had  no  power  of  moving,  except  one  of  my  hand*.  They  gave  me 

fome 


560  P  P  E  N  D  I  X. 

fome  fuftenanc*;  I  had  a  little  flesp ;  but  about  midnight  I  fell  into  a  fitua» 
lion  which  I  had  ail  the  reafon  to  think  indicated  the  immediate  approach  of 
death.  My  tongue  cieft  to  my  mouth,  my  extremities  were  as  cold  as  ice,  and 
the  coldnefs  alfo  appeared  to  extend  up  my  thigh  ;  my  arm  was  deftitute  of 
jmife,  nor  was  the  fmalieft  pulfation  of  the  heart  perceptible;  I  never  had  my 
tecojleflion  clearer,  or  perhaps  fo  clear,  in  my  life.  My  fervant  was  lying  by 
iny  bedfide;  I  was  convulled  for  fome  minutes ;  and,  on  recovering,  I  got 
cut  the  word  t>y.  Fortunately  for  me  he  was  not  afleep,  and  heard  me ;  t 
then  got  out  the  word  iv.ne\  on  wnich  he  brought  me  a  glafs  of  claret, 
which,  with  much  difficulty,  I  got  down;  I  felt  myfelf  much  revived  ;  I  re- 
flected on  my  litttation  ;  and,  although  I  had  nut  the  moft  remote  idea  of  fur- 
viving  that  night,  I  recollected  tliar  I  ha  i  fome  fine  powdered  bark  in  my 
trunk,  and  it  occurred  to  me  that,  if  any  thing  could  be  done  to  preferve  my 
life,  it  would  be  that  medicine  taken  in  red  wine  ;•  but,  my  fpeech  immedi- 
ately failing  me,  I  could  not  direct  the  fervant  to  give  it  to  me.  Death  feem- 
ed approaching;  coldnefs  had  leized  all  my  limbs;  my  tight  became  ccn- 
fufed,  as  1  perceived  from  looking  at  the  ftars,  which  danced  before  me  ;  and 
the  rattle  or  noifein  my  throat  was  very  perceptible  to  the  fervant,  as  he  af- 
terwards told  me.  I  fainted  and  continued  in  a  ftate  of  inlenfibility,  I  be- 
Jieve,  for  about  an  hour.  The  loud  lamentations  of  the  fervant,  bewailing 
his  own  misfortune  in  lofing  his  mafler  in  a  country  fo  remote  from  his  own9 
feemed  to  recal  me  to  life';  I  felt  as  if  refrefhed  with  a  little  ileep,  and  got 
out  the  words  bark  and  ivine ;  it  was  inftantly  brought,  and  the  man 
gave  me  two  large  tea-fpoonluls  in  a  large  glafs  of  claret.  The  effedl  was 
inftantaneous,  and  operated  like  a  charm  ;  the  coldnefs  left  me,  I  could  fpeak 
intelligibly,  and  could  move  my  hands.  I  told  the  fervant  to  give  me  a 
tea-fpoonful  of  the  bark  every  hour,  in  £  glafs  of  claret.  By  8  in  the  morning 
1  had  taken  fix  dofes,  and  more  than  half  a  bottle  of  claret.  I  was  confi- 
derably  ftrengthened,  and  could  converge  with  Mr.  Beaumont  who  encou- 
raged me  t©  perfevere  in  the  bark,  and  treated  me  with  uncommon  attention. 
I  had  been  fadly  neglccled  at  Buflbrah,  bnt  this  was  arriply  made  up  to  me 
by  the  humane  and  tender  attentions  of  Mr  Beaumont,  who  was  a  great  pre- 
defttnarian,  and  who  never  thunned  danger  when  he  felt  it  a  duty  to  aflift  a 
fellow  erea'ure.  He  waited  upon  me  like  a  nude*  confoled  me  under  pain 
and  ficknefs,  and,  when  my  fever  was  at  its  greateft  height,  he  has  often  held 
me  in  his  arms,  when  I  wanted  to  be  removed,  or  my  bed  flnfted.  About 
this  time  my  legs  and  thighs  became  covered  with  blotches  of  a  dufky  brown 
hue,  fome  of  them  as  broad  as  ihe  palm  of  the  hand,  quire  dry,  and  they 
itched  intolerably.  At  the  fitfne  time  feverai  little  boils  bioke  out  in  different 
parts  of  my  body,  but  there  was  only  one,  over  my  eye»  that  came  to  fuppii" 
ration  ;  the  others,  and  the  eruption  on  my  legs  and  thighs,  all  difappeared. 

I  continued  the  bark  till  12  o'  clock,  and  then  left  it  offtill  4,  when  1  took 
another  dole.  The  dreadful  fVverofthe  preceding  days  did  not  Return  on 
this,  but  I  was  ftill  extremely  ill,  had  very  great  difficulty  in  fpeaking  and 
breathing;  a  fwelli'.ig  alfo  in  my  throat,  parched  tongue,  and  unquenchable 
thirft.  I  had  not  the  molt  ciiftant  hope  of  living.  1  tried  to  take  fome  broth, 
but  the  fwelling  in  iny  throat  prevented  my  (wallowing.  I  pafled  a  very  bad 
night,  with  ftartings,  anxiety,  an<i  ^reat  pain  over  the  kidnies  ;  and  what  lit- 
ite  fleep  I  got  feemed  to  make  me  wojie;  I  was  fatigued  with  it,  and  under 
the  conftant  dread  of  lutTocation  :  towards  morning  my  throat  grew  worie,  ard 
my  thiilt  was  exceftive. 

i3:h.  Left  off  the  bark,  uncertain  what  I  ought  to  do— no  fever,  but  th* 
ft  me  fvmptoms  as  the  day  before— drank  a  little  chicken  broth,  which  was 
the  only  iuftenance  1  had  taken  for  four  days  before— great  oppreflion  .and 
heat  in  my  itornach  and  bowels.  Mr.  Beaumont  found  out  an  Armenian  wh» 
profeffcd  phylk.  This  man  gave  me  a  clyftcr,  which  gave  nie  great  lelief, 
and  a  water  to  drink,  famous  as  a  febrifuge  ai  \  ifiar.s ;  I  drank  of  it 

freely,  and  found  much  benefit  from  it.  Bu:  ihc  m»:t  extraordinaiy^  of  all 
the  fyinptoms  I  experienced  was  this,  that,  the  :hird  duy  after  the  firft  in- 
ter million  of  my  fever,  one  of  my  teeth,  a-d  one  of  the  nails  of  my  hand* 
came  out  without  the  fmalleft  pain,  only  a  little  iwelHrig  tn  she  gum  ;  and,  on 
the  rail  falling  off  fome  matter  flowed  from  the  end  o<  m.  linger.  I  never 
had  the  tooth-ach.  At  this'time  the  bull  on  my  eye  iuppi:i 


APPENDIX.  561 

-  from"  the  ifcth  of  June  to  the  $th  of  July,  being  feventeen  days,  iny  fever 
did  not  return.  I  recovered  ftrength  flowly,  and  could  walk  a  little,  fup- 
ported  by  two  men.  My  food  was  chiefly  chicken  and  veal  broth,  and  about 
a  glafs  and  a  half  of  Madeira  wine  a  day.  Yet  I  had  many  fymptoms  of  dif- 
cafe  hanging  about  me— reftlefs,  fatiguing  nights— great  thirft— bad  tafte  in 
my  mouth  :  every  thing  I  took  feemed  bitter  and  fait — pains  in  my  back* 
fides  and  loins,  and  great  difficulty  in  making  water.  In  this  time  I  palled 
much  bile,  naturally  and  by  clyfter ;  and  I  had  a  purgative  from  the  Arme- 
nian, whicn  weakened  me  greatly. 

The  fprings  lifted,  as  feamen  term  it,  three  days  before  the  change.  The 
opinion  is  univerfa!  in  thofe  countries,  and  alfo  in  India,  particularly  Bombay, 
where  intermittents  are  prevalent,  that  the  change  and  full  of  the  moon  has 
an  effect  upon  all  intermitting  difeafes,  of  which  afterwards  I  had  many  proofs 
in  my  own  cafe.  To  prevent  a  relapfe,  I  took  fome  decoction  of  bark»  but 
in  too  fmall  quantities  to  anfwer  the  purpofe. 

4th  July.  My  water,  from  being  thick  and  muddy,  became  quite  clear. 

The  5th  of  July,  after  dinner,  I  was  taken  with  a  flight  hot  fit,  which  con- 
tinued about  two  hours,  and  then  went  off  by  copious  perfpiration ;  the  re- 
maining part  of  the  evening  I  was  entirely  free  from  fever. 

6th.  I  took  decoclion  of  bark — no  fever. 

7th.  At  ti  d'  clock  a  regular  cold  and  hot  fit;  the  former  continued  three 
Quarters  of  an  hour,  the  latter  two  hours.  Although  much  lefs  fevere  than 
my  former  fever,  yet  I  fuffered  a  good  deal  from  the  hot  fit.  Lett  off  the 
bark  by  the  advice  of  the  Armenian,  who  told  me  that  it  heated  me  and  made 
me  woffe.  Much  weakened  by  this  day's  illaefs;  nor  did  the  perfpiration 
entirely  free  me  from  the  fever. 

8th.  Had  a  clyfter  thrown  up,  and  early  in  the  morning  took  a  draught 
from  the  Armenian,  compofed  of  fine  vinegar,  fugar,  and  a  country  feed  in- 
fufed  over  night  in  water. — A  llight  hot  fit,  but  of  fhort  continuance. 

gth.  The  draught  of  yefterday  repeated — at  10  a  regular  cold  and  hot  fit> 
rather  lefs  violent  than  the  laft. 

loth.  No  fe^er — tolerably  well. 

nth.  Between  8  and  9  in  the  morning  a  cold  and  hot  fit,  much  more  fe- 
vere than  the  laft — great  heat,  thirft  and  opprefTion— -much  weakened.  I  now 
perceived  1  had  got  a  regular  tertian,  and  determined  on  the  bark,  but  was 
prevailed  on  by  the  Armenian  not  to  ufe  it,  he  prosniling  to  cure  me  in  a 
day  or  two.  He  gave  me  water-melon  and  his  infuTion  of  vinegar  and  feeds. 

1 2»h.  No  fever — find  the  water-melon  to  difagree  greatly  with  my  ftomach. 

ijth.  Had  not  as  yet  indulged  much  hopes  of  recovery.  I  felt  (till,  even 
IE  thole  days  previous  to  this  laft"  relapfe.  many  alarming  fymptoms  of  dif- 
eafe,  which  made  me  apprehend  I  could  not  recover ;  and  this  laft  attack 
hid  again  reduced  me  fo  low,  that  it  was  evident  that,  unlefs  I  could  get  re- 
moved from  thofe  feorching  climates,  a  very  fliort  time  would  put  an  end  to 
my  life.  Except  in  the  humanity  and  good ne is  of  Mr.  Beaumont,  I  was 
without  a  fingle  comfort  or  convenieucy  of  life  at  Buihire.  The  heat  of  the 
weather  feeraed  daily  to  increafe,  and  the  houfe  we  were  in  hardly  covered  us 
from  the  direct  rays  of  the  fun.  My  fervant  was  taken  ill,  and  appeared  to 
be  dying  :  it  was  with  the  greateft  pleafure,  therefore,  I  received  the  accounts 
tRis  day  of  the  Eagle  cruffer  having  arrived  laft  night  from  Buiibrah,  on  her 
way  to  Bombay. 

At  half  paft  feven  o'clock  I  had  a  very  fevere  fit;  the  hot  fit  was  uncom- 
monly violent,  and  continued  about  three  hours.  I  was  much  reduced,  and 
rcTolved  at  all  events  to  take  the  bark  in  powder,  and  in  large  dofes,  and  to 
d  if  mi  is  the  Armenian.  In  this  I  was  confirmed  by  Mr.  Puget,  who  informed 
me  that  the  few  furvivors  at  Bufforah  owed-  their  livea  entirely  to  the  bark» 
which  had  at  laft  been  given  in  very  large  dofes. 

i4th.  I  took  four  dofes,  or  eifcht  tea-fpoonfuls,  of  powdered  bark.  It  pur- 
ged me,  and  carried  off  a  great  quantity  of  black  pxxtrid  bile.  This  evening  I 
was  carried  in  my  cot  on  board  the  Eagle,  refolved  at  all  events,  even  it  I 
had  been  certain  of  dying  in  the  boat,  to  leave  Buihire,  where  I  had  hardly 
Jhdter  from  the  fun,  and  where  the  heat  was  fo  exceflive»  that  Capt,  Alderfon 

of 
4  C 


562 


APPENDIX. 


of  the  Eagle  and  two  paffengers  were  taken  ill  from  it  laft  night.     I  got  oft 
board  very  late,  yet  found  myfelf  refreihed  from  the  fea  air. 

1 5th.  The  tever  did  npt  return.  I  continued  to  take  the  bark  as  yefterday* 
and  found  myfelf  furprifingly  (lengthened.  I  p'crfevered  under  this  courfe 
till  the  3d  of  Auguft,  when  the  vellel  arrived  at  Mufcat,  and  I  was  aftonifh- 
ingly  recovered  for  the  fhortnefs  of  the  time. 

From  the  i4th  of  July  to  the  3d  of  Auguft  I  had  taken  feven  ounces  ef 
bark;  and  as  the  fever  had  returned  upon  me  the  laft  day  of  the  fprings  at 
the  preceding  change  of  the  moon,  two  days  before  this  change  I  increafed  my 
daily  dofe,  and  continued  in  this  manner-  till  the  4th,  when  the  fprings  be- 
ing over,  and  perceiving  no  fymptoms  of  fever  remaining.  1  left  off  the  bark 
entirely.  I  had  generally  taken  fix  tea-fpoonfuls  every  clay. 

From  the  1510  of  July  till  my  arrival  at  Mufcat,  a  leaport  on  the  coaft  of 
Arabia,  my  recovery  was  exceedingly  rapid.  I  had  a  keen  appetite,  a  pretty 
good  digeftion,  found,  refrefhing  ileep,  and  rny  daily  increafe  of  ftrength  was 
very  perceptible.  My  diet,  till  this  time,  had  been  generally  chicken  broth, 
rice  and  boiled  fowl,  light  pudding,  &c.  On  leaving  off  the  bark  I  obfei  ved 
no  particular  regimen,  only  abftaining  from  fahed  and  high-feafoned  meats* 
and  confining  myfelf  to  three  or  four  glades  of  Madeira.  I  found  that  an  in- 
fufion  of  prunes,  with  a  fmall  quantity  of  cream  of  tartar,  was  of  much  fervice 
to  me  during  the  courfe  of  the  bark,  as  it  kept  me  cool,  and  my  body  open. 
I  was  fenfible,  at  times,  during  my  recovery,  of  a  flight  but  troublefome  pain 
under  my  fifth  rib  on  the  right  fide,  efpecially  when  I  lay  on  that  fide  ;  but 
from  feeling  and  preffing  my  hand  over  the  region  of  the  liver,  and  from  other 
circumftarces,  I  had  no  reafon  to  fufpedl  that  my  liver  -va-s  affected  ;  andi  as 
itfoon  left  me,  thecaufe  was  probably  trifling  or  accidental. 

On  rny  leaving  Mufcat  a  large  boil  came  upon  the  hip-bone,  the  fize  of  a 
fmall  melon,  extending  fome  way  up  the  fide,  and  down  the  thigh,  with  a 
hard  balls-  After  arriving  at  Bombay,  which  we  did  in  fourteen  day?,  it 
broke,  and  in  a  few  days  healed  up.  I  (hall  only  add,  that  at  Bombay  I  was 
detained  four  months  before  I  had  an  opportunity  of  proceeding  to  Europe. 
In  that  time  I  had  three  returns  of  my  ague,  but  on  taking  a  few  dofes  of 
bark' it  left  me.  Thofe  attacks  happened  at  the  change  of  the  moon.-  From 
Bombay  to  Europe  I  had  three  or  four  flight  fits  of  the  ague;  the  worft  on 
our  making  thecoaft  of  South  Guinea,  at  the  fettlement  of  Benguela",  where 
we  found  the  wretched  remains  of  a  Portugucfe  gairiion,  the  furvivors  of  a 
fatal  putrid  fever,  which,  as  they  told  us,  raged  in  thofe  parts  for  eighteen 
months  before.  The  laft  attack  1  had  was  the- day  we  made  the  Rock  of 
Lifbon,  fince  which  time  I  have  had  no  returns  of  the  ague,  although,  whea 
the  wind  continues  long  at  eaft,  I  am  fenfible  of  a  tendency  to  thai:  complaint. 

I  fhal!  now  give  a  brief  account  of  the  fate  of  my  fellow  fuH'eiars  at  Buf- 
forah  This  unfortunate  party  confifted  of  capt.  Sheriff,  of  the  Eagle  cruifer; 
Mr.  Brown,  a  Bengal  merchant,  carrying  goods  from  India  to  Aleppo;  Mr. 
Palmer,  a  gentleman  returning  with  his  fortune  from  Bengal  to  Europe  ; 
Mr  Robfon,  iurgeon  to  the  fadory ;  Mr.  Abraham,  the  vice-conful ;  Dr. 
Kofs,  \vhohad  pracYiled  many  years  at  Constantinople,  forne  time  in  Bengal, 
«and  was  then  taking  the  opportunity  of  accompanying  me  acrofs  the  defer t ; 
Mr.  Smith,  a  merchant  from  India  ;  and  an  Italian  Carmelite,  the  vicar  of 
Buflbrah,  who  came  from  Bombay.  It  is  unnecellary  to  fay  that  the/era  dak 
is  a  common  1'ymptom  in  the  Turkilh  fever,  or,  in  other  words,  a  ftrong  dc- 
iireof  feif-dcftrudtion.  We  had  a  fatal  inftance  of  it  in  our  party.  Mr. 
Brown,  the  fecond  day  of  his  fever,  being  left  alone,  got  to  his  piftols,  and. 
throwing  in  four  or  five  balls,  difchargcd  them  into  his  bread,  and  was  found 
dead  a  few  minutes  afterwards.  I  believe  every  one  of  «s  at  times  would 
have  done  the  fame,  had  we  been  poffeffed  of  the  means  of  accomplishing  it. 
Mr  Robfon  died  the  rhird  day  of  his  fever,  in  g^eat  agonies,  but  perfedly 
fenfible.  His  was  a  continued  high  fever,  without  any  remiilion.  Mr.  Pal- 
mer died  the  4th  day,  under  the  fame  fymptoms  as  the  preceding.  The  Car- 
melite,  the  fecond  morning  after  he  was  taken  ill,  had  opened  a  vein  in  his 
arm,  and  bled  to  death,  moft  probably  intentionally.  Captain  Sheriff  was 
feized  with  the  fever  on  his  return  from  Bullbrah  to  Bufhire.  He  died  the 
third  day,  in  a  manner  which  is  even  painful  to  relate.  H«  was  a  man  of 

lingxilar 


APPENDIX.  363 

Angular  ftrength  of  conftitution,  and  fuffered  unufual  agonies  before  he  died. 
His  cries  were  heard  all  over  the  factory  ;  he  foamed  at  the  month*  gnaflhed 
with  his  teeth,  and  tore  his  arms  with  his  teeth.  Thofe  who  heard  him  com- 
pared his  cries  to  the  bellowing  of  a  mad  bull.*  He  was  no  fooner  dead  but 
his  body  was  covered  with  purple  fpots,  and  fo  oftenfive  that  th-e  people 
could  hardly  carry  it  out  to  be  buried.  Mr.  Sheriff' swas  what  they  call  the 
worft  kind  of  plague. 

Mr.  ,  formerly  mentioned  as  having  efcaped  the  plague  at  Buflbrah 

by  (hutting  himfelf  up  in  a  mud  houfe,  was  leized  on  his  voyage  to  Bufforah 
with  a  kind  of  infanity,  imagining  that  people  were  conipiriag  againft  his 
life,  and  that  he  was  capable  of  overhearing,  at.a  great  diftance,  even  a  whif- 
per  fpoken  to  his  difadvantage.  He,  however,  efcaped  the  infection,  and  re- 
turned to  England  in  health. 


N*    VII. 

Set  of  Queries  furni/hed  by  Doffors  AIKIN  and  JEBB  ; 
and  by  Mr.  HOWARD  put  to  fever al  foreign  Phyfician^ 
during  his  tour  -,  with  their  Opinions  concerning  the 
Plague. 

j.  TS  the infection  of  the  plague  frequently  received  by  the  French? 

A  Anfwer,  by  Raytnsndt  phyfician  at  Marfeilles  :  Sometimes  it  is. — — 
Ditnollinst  furgeon  do :  In  the  lazaretto  feme  have  touched  infected  bodies  and 
things  with  impunity.  Attributed  to  the  temperament  of  the  body. — Giova- 
neIHt  phyfician  to  the  Leghorn  lazaretto :  The  plague  cannot  be  communicated 
but  by  very  near  approach,  or  touch  :  air  cannot  be  the  vehicle. — Theyt  phyfi- 
eian  to  the  Malta  lazaretto  :  It  may  happen  that  one  perfon  may  inhabit  the 
fame  chamber,  or  even  touch  an  infected  perfon,  with  impunity  5  of  which  I 
have  known  inftances  ;  but  all  who  approach  the  atmofphere  of  an  infe&ed  bo- 
dy may  receive  the  infection  by  refpiration.  Contagion  is  almoft  always  received 
before  touching  or  approaching  the  infected  peribn.- — Mnrandi,  phyfician  at 
Venice  :  Contact  is  one  of  the  moft  powerful  and  dangerous  means  of  com- 
municating the  infection  ;  but  for  the  developement  of  its  effects  a  predifpofi- 

tion  in  the  receiving  body  isneceffary. Ferttoni^  phyfician  at  Triefte  :  It  is 

moft  frequently  communicated  by  the  touch.  It  has  been  given  by  a  flower 
held  and  fmelt  at,  firft  by  two  perfons  who  remained  tree;  and  then  by  a 
third,  who  fickened  and  died  in  24  hours. — -Jew  phyfician  at  Smyrna:  The 
infection  is  in  reality  communicated  by  the  touch  alone ;  for  all  who  keep 
from  contact  of  infected  perfons  or  things  remain  free.  To  the  effect  of 
contact,  however,  a  certain  difpofition  of  the  air  is  neceflkry  ;  for  we  often  fee 
infected  perfons  arrive  from  other  countries,  yet  the  difcafe  does  not  fpread. 
But  what  this  difpofition  is  can  fcarcely  be  conceived.  Commonly  in  this 
climate,  the  difeafe  appears  at  the  end  of  fpring,  and  continues  to  the  middle 
of  fummer;  with  this  particularity,  that,  in  cloudy  weather,  and  during  the 
Jiracco  winds,  the  attacks  are  more  frequent.  Alfo  in  the  fame  diathefis  of 
the  air  lome  receive  the  infection,  while  others  expofed  to  the  fame  dangers 
efcape  it.  From  obfervation  it  appears,  that  cachectic  perfons,  and  thofe  of 
conftitutions  abounding  in  acid,  do  not  readily  take  it.  The  contagious  mi- 
afmata  may  be  dormant  in  the  body  for  fome  tin;e  without  doing  the  leaft 

harm,  till  let  in  motion  by  fudden  fear,  or  the  exceffive  heat  of  a  bath. 

fra,  Luigl  di  Paviat  prior  of  thehofpital  of  San  Antonio  at  Smyrna  :  The 
plague  is  communicated  by  contact,  according  to  all  the  obfervations  I  have 
been  able  to  make  for  eighteen  years. 

2.  Does  the  plague  ever  rife  fpontaneoufly  ? 

Raymond :  Inconteilible  experience  fhows  that  it  only  proceeds  from 
fontad.— —  DtKuliitt*  ;  Irrom  all  ages  tfes  plague  has  been  brought  to  Mar- 
feilles 


564 


APPENDIX. 


feilles  by  merehandife  or  perfons  beyond  fea GiwatteHi :  As  the  difeafe 

always  appears  with  the   lame  fymptoms,  it  is  not  probably   fpontaneous, 

but  the  confequence  of  a  particular  contagion. Ihty  :    Some  contagious 

fevers  come  of  themfelves  ;  others  proceed  from  the  communication  of  con- 
tagion. The  plague  is  though*  to  have  originated  in  Egypt,  and  fpread  itfelf 

from  thence. Morandi;  Contagious  fevers  do  not  arife  of  themfelves,  but 

are  always  the  produd  of  a  peculiar  poifon Verdonl :  I  know  na  fever  that 

can  properly  be  called  contagious,  and  doubt  if  even  the  plague  can  be  con- 
lidered  as  fuch.  My  reafons  are  drawn  from  the  very  different  manner  in 
which  the  plague  appears  in  different  years,  and  the  different  degree  in  which 
itfpreads^  I  therefore  conclude  that  contagious  fevers  come  of  themfelves.— 
Jetv  phyfician  :  According  to  the  mod  ancient  authorities,  the  plague  has 
always  been  brought  to  Smyrna  by  contagion,  and  was  never  produced  here.— - 
Fra.  Lulgi :  Ancient  and  common  obfervation  in  this  city  prove  that  the 
plague  is  derived  folcly  from  contagion. 

5.  To  What  diltance  is  the  air  infeded  >  How  far  does  adual  contadt, 
wearing  infected  clothes,  or  touching  other  things,  produce  the  dileafe  ? 

Raymond:    The  infeded  are  fafely  converged  with  acrofs  a  barrier,  which 

feparatts  them  only  a  few  paces. Demollins .•  The  air  round  the  patient  is 

infeded  more  or  lets  according  to  the  degree  of  poifon  Which  exhales.  Her* 
in  the  lazaretto  they  are  fpoken  with  acrofs  two  barriers,  a  few  paces  from 
each  other,  without  fear  of  contagion.  Hence  it  would  appear  that  the  plague 
is  communicated  only  by  the  touch,  or  ftill  more  by  weaving  infeded  clothes. 
— -Gilvanelii :  If  one  fpeaks  of  an  infeded  perfon  fhut  up  in  an  unventilated 
chamber,  it  may  be  laid  that  the  whole  chamber  is  dangerous ;  but  if  one 
fpeaks  of  a  patient  expofed  to  the  open  air,  it  has  been  proved  that  the  in- 
fedion does  not  extend  beyond  five  geometrical  paces  from  the  body.  Be- 
yond this  diftance  o'ne  is  in  fafety.  The  adual  touch  of  an  infeded  perfon 
or  thing  is  proved  to  be  very  dangerous  by  fatal  experience  ;  but  to  what  de- 
gree, is  not  ascertained. — They:  The  infection  extends  only  Tome  paces  ;  and 
the  miafms,  at  the  diftance  of  about  ten  paces,  are  fo  corrected  by  the  air  as 
to  lofe  all  their  activity.  It  may  be  communicated  by  touching  infeded 

things,  efpecially  of  a  porous  nature,  as  cloth,  wool,  fkins,   &c Verdoni : 

From  the  moment  of  infedion  to  the  time  when  nature  has  entirely  diflipated 
the  contagious  principle,  which  ufually  happens  in  forty  days,  there  is  always 
a  capacity  of  communicating  the  infedion.  The  degree  of  infedion  is  in 
proportion  to  the  volume  of  air  furrouhding  the  patient  ;  the  air  being  what 
abforbs,  dilfipates  and  communicates  the  contagious  principle  Infeded 
fubftances  communicate  the  difeale  for  many  years,  in  proportion  to  the 
ventilation  they  have  undergone,  or  of  which  they  are  lufceptible. — —jfe-w  phy- 
fician :  The  degree  of  infedion  in  the  air  about  the  fick  depends  upon  the 
greater  or  lefs  malignity  of  the  difeafe,  and  other  cifcumftances.  The  air 
about  poor  patients  is  more  infectious  than  about  the  rich  Thefe  things  be- 
ing eftabliihed,  I  am  of  opinion  that,  in  the  greateft  contagion,  we  may  fe- 
curely  fee  a  patient  at  the  diftance  of  two  ells,  if  the  chamber  windows,  be 

not  all  mut. Fra.  Lulgl .-  The  infedion  is  greater  or  lefs  in  proportion  to 

the  virulence  of  the  contagion  ;  but  I  have  made  no  obfervation  as  to  the  dif- 
tance. The  difeafe  is  communicated  by  contact  of  all  infeded  things,  an4 
by  clofe  infpiratiori  of  the  breath  of  the  lick. 

4.  What  are  the  feafons  in  which  the  plague  chiefly  appears;  and  what  is 
the  interval  between  the  infedion  and  the  difeafe  : 

Raymond:  The  plague  mows  itfelf  at  all  feafons,  but  lefs  at  thetwofol- 
flices.- — D'.mclllns  :  Great  ravages  may  be  made  in 'all  feafons >  but  principally 
in  the  greateft  heats  of  fummer.  From  the  infedio'n  to  the  difeafe  is  two  or 
three  days.  —  GiwantlH :  The  plague  appears  at  all  times,  in  the  fame  man- 
ner as  poifons  at  all  times  prodace  their  effeds.  But  observations  fhow  that 
its  ravages  are  greater  in  hot  feafons  than  in  cold  ;  and  it  feerris  that  fummer 
and  the  firft  months  of  autumn  are  moft  to  be  dreaded.  There  is  no  certain- 
ty  as  to  the  interval  between  \\\z  infedion  and  the  difeafe,  as  it  depends  on 
the  paiticulat  conltitution  of  the  patient. — They  :  Warm,  moift  feafons  con- 
tribute to  the  produdion  of  all  infectious  difcafes.  The  interval  from  the 
infection  to  the  leisure  is  various,  according  to  the  virulence  of  the  poifonj 

and 


APPENDIX.  565 

and  the  conftifutien  of  the  patient.  Sometimes  it  a&s  flowly,  fdmetimes  lik£ 
a  ftroke  of  lightning. Verdoni  3  The  fpring  is  the  principal  feafon.  Gene- 
rally the  difeafe  fhows  itfelf  at  the  iaftant  of  touch*  like  an  electrical  fhock. 
Sometimes  a  perfon  retains  the  contagious  principle  without  any  fenfible  ef- 
fect, and  then  unknowingly  communicates  it  to  a  third*  in  whom,  if  predif- 
pofed  to  the  difeafe,  it  becomes  active;  or,  otherwife,  it  may  be  commuHica- 
ted  to  others  fucceflively  in  the  fame  way,  till  it  becomes  diffipated  and  an- 
nihilated, as  happened  at  Smyrna  in  1783.  In  bodies  predifpofed  it  very 
rarely  conceals  itfelf  till  the  third  day. — Jew  phyfician  :  Arffwered  in  the  firft. 

Fra.  Luigl :  The  plague  is  moft  fatal  in  Smyrna  from  April  to  July  ;  and 

it  is  conftantly  obferved  that  great  colds  and  hears  much  diminilh  it.  and  copi- 
ous dews  extinguiih  it.  The  infection  (hows  itfelf  in  24  hours,  more  or  lefs, 
according  to  the  difference  of  temperament. 

5 .  What  are  the  firft  fymptoros  of  plague  ?  Are  they  not  frequently  a  fwel- 
ling  in  the  glands  of  the  groin  and  armpit  ? 

Raymond :  The  plague  often  conceals  itfelf  under  the  form  of  an  inflam- 
matory.  ardent  or  malignant  fever.  Tumours  of  the  glands  are  often  its  firft 
fynij>'om  --Demollins:  The  firft  fymptoms  of  the  plague  vary  ;  but  the  moft 
common  are,  buboes  in  the  armpit  and  groin  ;  parotids  and  carbuncles  in  va- 
rious parts  of  the  body. Gio-vanelH  .•  The  firft  fymptoms  are,  debility,  fe- 
ver, exceffive  thirft,  followed  by  great  heat ;  after  which  carbuncles  or  buboes 
appear  in  the  armpits,  groin  and  parotids.  The  groin  is  fooner  attacked  than 

the  armpit. T6(y  t  Swellings  in  the  armpits  and  groin  are  indeed  the  cha- 

raderiftics  of  the  plague;  yet  they  are  not  the  fole  nor  the  firft  fymptoms, 
and  often  are  not  feen  at  all ;  as  when  the  plague  difguifes  itfelf  under  the 

form  of  other  difeafes. Morandi .-    Glandular  fwellings   are  properly   the 

ifymptom  of  the  fecond  ftage,  and  are  preceded  by  thofe  febrile  fymptonss 
•which  are  immediately  the  confequence  of  receiving  the  infection  ;  fuch  as 
pain  in  the  headt  drowfinefs,  great  proftration  of  ftrength,  dry nefs  of  the  tongue, 
vomiting,  hiccough,  tremor,  diarrkcea. — ferdoni :  Its  firft  fymptoms  are  rela- 
tive to  the  conftitution  of  the  year,  and  of  the  body  feized,  and  the  place  where 
it  was  produced,  or  whence  it  came.  In  1783  all  the  parts  of  Natolia  were 
znfecied  ;  and  the  difeafe  tranfported  to  Smyrna,  which  is  the  centre,  was  ex- 
tinguilhed  without  the  lofs  of  a  fingle  perfon.  Generally  the  plague  of  Con- 
ft^ntinople,  tranfported  to  Smyrna,  does  little  harm.  That  of  Egypt  caufes 
havock,  as  in  every  country.  That  of  the  Thebais  is  always  cruel,  and,  car- 
ried to  Lower  Egypt,  is  fatal.  The  inguinal  glands  are  moft  generally  af- 
feded. — Jetu  phyfician  :  The  fwelling  of  the  glands  is  feldom  the  firft  fymp- 
tom.  Patients  are  every  day  feen  who,  being  fuppofed  ill  of  another  difor- 
<Jer,  in  two/three  or  more  days  fhow  glandular  fwellings,  or  carbuncles,  by 
which  the  plague  is  manifefted.  On  the  contrary,  many,  who  from  the  ufuil 
iigas  are  fuppofed  to  have  the  plague,  become  well  in  a  day  or  two,  without 
any  external  fwelling.  The  firft  fymptoms  are,  horripilation,  or  actual  fhi- 
\ering,  naufea  or  vomiting,  lofs  of  ftrength,  and  fever.  Thefe  are  common  to 
many  difeafes  ;  but  the  pathognomic  figns  are,  a  difference  in  the  pulfations  of 
the  two  fides,  with  this  circurnftance,  that  from  the  diverfity  a  prognoftic  ari- 
ies ;  it  having  been  obferved  that  if  the  pulfe  on  the  fide  of  the  tumour  or 
carbuncle  be  greater  or  more  frequent,  it  bodes  well ;  whereas,  if  it  be  fmallert 
it  fhows  greater  malignity,  and  more  is  to  be  feared  Further,  there  is  ob- 
ferved among  the  firft  fymptoms  a  vifible  pulfation  in  the  carotids,  greateft  on 
the  affected  fide;  and  alfo  a  cryftalline  vivacity  in  the  eyes,  with  a  kind  ot 

contraction  or  diminution  of  the  eye  on  the  aifeded  (ide. Fra.  Luigl :  The 

moft  remarkable  fymptoms  of  the  plague  are,  turbidnefs  and  fparkling  of  the 
eyes,  the  tongue  furred  with  a  white  mucus,  and  very  red  at  its  tip,  frequent 
-biting  of  the  lips,  violent  pain  in  the  head,  and  inability  to  hold  it  up  ;  afenfe 
of  great  cold  in  the  loins,  vomiting,  debility.  Swellings  of  the  glands  are  not 
among  the  firft  fymptoms. 

6.  Is  it  true  that  there  are  two  diftind  fevers  with  nearly  the  fame  fymp- 
toms, one  of  which  is  properly  termed  the  plague,  and  is  communicated  from 
a  dittance  by  the  air,  and  without  contad  ;  while  the  other,  which  is  properly 
termed  contagion,    is  only  communicated  by  the  touch,  or  at  leail  by  near 
approach  to  infected  peribn*  or  things  : 

frforanji .- 


APPENDIX. 

Morandl  t  It  is  certain,  from  multiplied  obfervations,  that  there  are  tw» 
forts  of  neftilential  fevers,  fimUar  in  appearance  ;  one  of  which  proceeds  from 
the  contamination  of  the  air  alone,  and  is  communicable  to  any  diftance  ;  the 
other  is  produced  alone  by  contad,  or  near  approach.  The  former  of  thefe  is 

properly  termed  a  peftiletuial  fever,  the  latter  a  contagious  one. Ferdoni  t 

The  diftin&ion  of  thefe  fevers  is  ufelefs  ;  fince  the  fame  which  is  communi- 
cated by  the  touch,  is  that  alfo  conveyed  by  the  air  to  a  certain  diftance,  efpe- 
«ially  in  aclofo^place.—  -Jciv  phyficiau  :  That  there  are  two  kinds  of  plague 
is  abfolutely  to  be  denied  ;  yet  fometimes  it  happens  that  perfons  are  attacked 
with  the  plague  without  knowing  from  whe.ice  it  came.  —  Fra.  Luigi :  I  hold 
it  for  certain  that  there  is  only  one  fpecics  of  plague,  though  differing  in  ma- 
lignity. 

7.  What  is  the  method  of  treatment  in  the  firft  ftage;  what  in  th«  mot* 
advanced  periods  ?  What  is  known  concerning  bark,  fnalceroot,  opium,  wine, 
pure  air,  the  application  of  cold  water  ? 

Raymond:   The  difeafe  is  treated  as  inflammatory.     No  fpecific  has  been 

difcovered  for  it. DemoUln-s  :  At  the  beginning,  bkeding,«vomiting,  purgar 

tives,  diluents,  refrigerants  and  antifeptics  are  ufed  ;  afterwards  antiicptics 
and  cordials,  relatively  to  the  temperament  and  fymptorns  — Giovanelii .-  The 
plague  caufmg  always  adiipofition  to  inflammation  and  putrefadtion,  it  is  al- 
ways proper  to  bleed  proportionally  to  the  ftrength,  and  to  ufe  a  cooling  re- 
gimen, with  the  vegetable,  acids.  The  repeated  ufe  of  emetics  is  alfo  proper* 
both  to  clean  the  firft  paiTages,  and  to  difpofe  the  virus  to  pals  off'by  thefkin. 
In  the  progrefs  it  is  neceiiary  to  favour  the  evacuafion  of  the  virus  by  that 
illue  winch  nature  feems  to  point  at.  Thus  either  amiphlogiftic  purgative* 
are  given,  if  nature  points  that  way,  or  fuppurative  plafters  are  to  be  applied 
to  any  tumours  which  may  appear.  Epifpaftics  to  the  extremities  are  proper 
where  nature  wants  routing.  The  vitriolic  acid*  in  large  dofes  has  been  found 
•very  femceable  in  the  plague  at  Mofcow,  attended  with  carbuncles.  When* 
the  inflammation  is  over,  awd  marCks  of  fuppuratioa  appear,  the  baik,  with 
wine  and  other  cordials,  is  proper.  The  lurgeou's  affiftaEce  is  propei  in  the 
treatment  of  boils  and  anthraces,  which  laft  are  feldowi  cured  without  the  ac- 
tual cautery.  —  They  ~  In  the  beginning  of  peftilential  fevers  bleeding  is  fome- 
times  proper,  and  vomits  almoft  always.  In  their  progrefs  fret^ient  fubacid 
and  cold  drinks,  the  bark  given  liberally,  and  vitriolic  acid,  have  been  found 
powerful  remedies  when  there  was  a  diffolution  of  the  blood. — Morandi :  In 
the  firft  period,  evacuations,  according  to  the  particular  circumftances  of  the 
cafe,  are  proper  :  in  the  fecond,  bark  mixed  with  wine,  and  opium  as  a  tem- 
porary fedative.  Pure  air  is  very  neceflary  ;  and  fire  as  a  corrective,  with  the 
burning  of  antifeptic  and  aromatic  fubftances. — Verdonl :  As  foon  as  a  Chrif- 
tian  3nds  he  has  got  the  plague,  he  eats  caviare,  garlic  and  pork ;  drinks 
brandy,  vinegar  and  the  like,  to  raifc  the  buboes.  Upon  fheis  he  applies 
greafy  wool,  caviare,  honey  of  r0fes,  dried  figs,  &c.  to  bring  them  to  fuppura- 
tioa. The  Turks  and  Arabs  drink  bezoar  in  powder  with  milk,  and  other 
i'udorifks,  in  order  to  expel  the  virus.  They  vomit,  and  poiTibly  a  fecond 
time.  At  Cairc-  they  take  opium,  and  cover  themfelves  with  mattrefies  in 
order  to  excite  fweat ;  and,  though  parched  with  Tieat  and  thirft>  they  drink 
nothing.  They  open  the  immature  buboes  with  a  red  hot  iron.  At  Con- 
ftantinople  and  Smyrna  they  eat  nothing,  and  drhik  much  water  and  lemonade. 
The  Jews  drinka  dscodion  of  citron  feeds,  lemon  or  Seville  orange  peel,  and 
1  heir  own  urine.  They  abftain  fcrupuloufty  from  animal  food.  In  1700  a 
phyfieian  in  Smyrna  found  bleeding  very  ufefal.  'Another,  in  another  yeara 
cured  the  plague  by  bleeding,  and  an  antiphlogiftk  jegicien.  My  brother  in 
Cairo  treated  it  like  a  biliary  fever,  with  vomits,  taponaceou»  attenuants^ 
and  antiphlogiftics  ;  an-d  fuccdi'sfully.  *  Some  failorsat  Confiantinople  in  the* 
frenzy  of  the  plague  have  thrown  themfelves  into  the  fea  ;  and  it  is  faid 
that  on  being  taken  out  of  it  they  have  recovered.  My  opinion  upon  the 
whole  is,  that  tiro  treatment  ought  to  be  relative  totheconftitution  of  the"year» 
and  of  the  patient,  by  which  the  nature  of  the  difeafe  itfelf  is  greaty  altered.— 
Jrw  phyiieian  :  Bleeding  in  many  cafes  may  be  ferviceable,  as  I  haveknowa 
patients,  who  were  bled  by  miftake,  recover  ;  and  others  recovered  from  a 
moft  defpcuiej, condition  by  afpomaneoas  hemorrhage.  On  the  other  hand> 


APPENDIX.  567 

{terfons  have  been  apparently  "injured  by  both  thefe  circumftancss.  The 
difference  of  effect  feems  to  depend  on  the  (late  of  the  blood*  whether  it  ha 
difpoled  to  coagulation  or  diffolution.  In  the  former,  bleeding  is  ufeful,  in 
the  latter,  hurtful.  Vomits,  according  to  my  experience,  have  not  fucceeded; 
yet  I  fhould  not  hefitate  to  try  ipecacuanha  in  fubftance,  exhibiting  half  a 
fcruple  at  two  or  three  times,  in  the  expectation  that  in  this  manner  it  would 
not  run  down.  Bark  may  beufeful  in  diflblutions  of  the  bloed  ;  and  alfo> 
ftnall  dofes  of  ofium,  and  other  medicines  prudently  adrniniftered.  In  ex- 
ceffive  watchfulnefs  I  have  known  relief  procured  by  anointing  the  temples 
with  ung.  populeon.  In  a  cafe  of  hiccough  the  liquor  anod.  miner.  HoW- 
manni  fucceeded  with  one.  The  Turks,  in  the  violence  of  the  fever,  take 
handfuls  of  fnow,  and  apply  it  all  over  their  bodies,  and  "alfo  eat  it;  and 
Sometimes  threw  cold  water  on  their  feet.  But  whether  this  is  of  fervice  or 
not  cannot  be  determined  ;  as  thefe  people  in  other  refpedls  pay  no  regard  to 
rules  of  diet. — Fra.  Luigi :  They  who  pradtife  empirically  in  the  plague  ufe 
none ot  the  recited  methods,  but  only  ftrong  fudorifics,  and  ventilation  of  the 
air ;  and  complete  the  cure  by  proper  treatment  of  the  fores  by  fuppuration. 

8.  When  the  plague  prevails,  do  the  phyficians  prefcribe  to  thofe  who  have 
the  diforder  a  more  generous,  or  a  more  abftemious  diet  ?  and  do  they  prefcribe 
any  thing  to  the  uninfeded  ? 

Jew  phyfician :  In  times  of  the  plague,  many  are  accuftomed  to  eat  no 
fieih;  others,  no  fifh  ;  but  I  know  not  whether  by  the  advice  of  phyficians. 
For  myfelf,  I  have  been  in  many  plague  years,  but  have  made  no  alteration  in 
the  management  of  myfelf — Pra.  Lta'gis  In  Smyrna  the  plague  is  generally 
treated  with  a  rigorous  diet.  They  only  ufe  rice  and  vermicelli  boiled  in  wate*; 
and  fometimes,  when  the  patient  is  too  coftive,  juices  and  herbs  boiled  without 
feafoning.  From  time  to  time  they  give  fome  acid  preferves,  and  raifins,  and» 
in  great  heats,  fome  (lender  lemonade ;  and  a  difh  of  good  coffee  with  a  bilcuit 
every  day.  For  drink  they  only  ufe  toaft  and  water  ;  and  they  follow  this  ab- 
ftemious regimen  till  the  fortieth  day  of  the  difeafe  is  completed,  after  which 
they  take  chicken  broth,  lamb,  and  other  food  of  eafy  digeftion. 

9.  Are  convalefcents  fuhjed  to  repeated  attacks  from  the  fame  infeftion? 

Raymond;  Not  unlefs  they  touch  fomething  infected. Demsllint :  Con- 
valefcents are  fent  to  fumigated  chambers,  and  there  is  no  inftance  of  relapfe.— 
Ginvanelli :  No  inftance  of  relapfe,  after  being  well  recovered  from  the 
iirfl:  attack,  have  come  to  my  knowledge ;  bu.t  they  are  liable  to  fall  into  other 

diforders,  fuch  as  confumption,  haenaoptoe,  &c. 'They:  Convalefcents  are 

without  doubt  liable  to  a  relapfe,  and  authors  are  full  of  inftances  of  it.  In 
the  plague  of  Medina  M.  Cotogno  fa^s  that  a  man  had  fucceflively  fourteen 

buboes,  and  was  cured  at  laft. — Morandl :  All  convalefcents  may  relapfe. 

Verdoni :  They  have  it  not  twice  in  the  fame  year. — Jew  phyfician  :  Con- 
valefcents are  often  attacked  anew,  and  die  ;  but  this  does  not  ufually  happen 
from  a  frefh  infection  taken  el fewere,  but  from  fome  remains  of  their  own. 
contagion,  excited  by  intemperance  in  food,  or  the  venereal  ad.  —  Fra.  Luigi  .- 
From  irregularities  in  eating  and  drinking,  bodily  fatigues,  afTedlions  of  the 
mind*  efpecially  anger,  they  are  liable  to  repeated  ani  very  dangerous  re- 
lapfes. 

10.  What  is  the  proportion  of  deaths,  and  the  ufual  length  of  the  difeafe  ? 
Raymond:  The  mortality  is  different  in  different  feafons  and  years. — - 

Demollirt\ :  In  the  plague  of  Marfeilles  in  1720,  half  the  inhabitants  perifhed. 
The  ufual  length  of  the  difeafe  is  that  of  other  acute  diforders  ;  but  longer 
when  the  tumours  come  to  fuppurate.— —  Giovanelii :  The  proportion  of 
deaths  is  variable  and  uncertain.  As  to  duration*  when  the  difeafe  is  very 
acute  and  fatal,  the  patient  generally  dies  within  five  days  from  the  firft  in- 
vafion  of  the  fever,  or  firft  marks  of  the  plague-  When  lie  recovers,  no  cer- 
tain termination  can  be  affigned.  If  the  time  of  healing  all  the  fores  be 

reckoned,  it  may  be  to  three,  four  or  five  months,  or  more. They  .-  The 

mortality  is  very  various.  Of  ten  whom  I  treated  in  the  lazaretto,  three 
died.  I  have  obferved  that  the  fever  generally  runs  OH  to  twenty  or  twenty- 
one  days. —  Mrrandi :  The  bills  of  mortality  in  places  vifited  by  the  plague 
ufually  amount  to  thirty  per  cent,  fometimes"  to  fifty.  (He-  feems  to  mean  of 

the  whole  number  of  inhabitants.) V<rd*nl .-   The  proportion  of  deaths 

varies 


568 


APPENDIX. 


varies  infinitely.  It  ha?  been  obferved  that  the  Jews  in  Conflantinople  an<f 
Smyrna  Jofe  only  one  third ;  which  is  attributed  to  the  care  they  take  of 
their  fick.  At  Cairo,  on  the  other  hand,  they  are  the  firft  attacked,  and  lofe 
more  than  three  fourths.  The  Turks  Ipfe  two  thirds  ;  other  nations  a  little 
more  or  lefs.  Europeans  in  Cairo  lofe  five  fixths.  Sometimes  it  kills  im- 
mediately; fometimes  in  twenty-four  hours;  commonly  in  three  days.  When 
the  patient  gets  over  the  ninth  day  there  are  great  hopes  of  recovery,  as  the 
buboes  are  then  fuppurated.  They  may,  however,  die  within  the  fortieth 
day,  efpecially  if  they  commit  any  irregularity,  the  principal  of  wnich  is  eat- 
ing flefh,  which  inftantly  caufes  a  return  offerer,  and  death.  It  never  paffes 
beyond  the  fortieth  day. — Jew  phyfician  :  The  mortality  is  various,  as  alfo 
the  duration  :  fome  in  twoi  three  or  four  days  ;  fome  hold  out  fix,  eight,  or 
more.  —  Fra.  Luigi :  Generally  more  die  than  furvive;  but  in  our  hofpital  of 
San  Antonio  of  bmyrna,  from  the  '-are  taken  of  the  fick,  the  number  reco- 
vering has,  for  eighteen  years  paft,  exceeded  that  of  the  dead. 

ii.  What  are  the  means  to  prevent  the  plague,  to  ftop  its  contagion,  and 
to  purify  infected  place*  I 

Raymond:  There  is  no  other  method  of  preserving  one's  felf  from  the 
plague,  than  avoiding  the  contaclof  infected  things  Goods  are  purified  by1 
expofingthem  to  the  open  air  for  forty  days  ;  and  furniture  by  a  ilrong  fu- 
migation with  aromatics  and  fulphur. — Demo/ 'tins  .-  Here,  in  the  lazaretto,  in- 
fected goods  and  furniture  are  expofed  to  a  current  of  air  for  forty  days.  The? 
air  of  in  feel  ed  places  is  purified  by  burning  all  forts  of  aromatics. —  GiovrnmUi  : 
The  method  of  prevention  is,  to  avoid  all  communication  with  inleded. 
perfons  or  goods.  The  means  of  (lopping  the  contagion  form  a  body  of 
police,  tooextendve  to  be  here  mentioned- — Ihfy  :  The  means  of  prevention* 
befides  avoiding  inte&ed  things  and  perfons,  are  fobriety  in  living,  the  ufe  of 
vinegar  internally  and  externally,  and  an  ifiue.  Infected  places  are  purified 
by  fumigation  and  ventilation,  by  fcraping  the  lime  from  the  walls,  (which 
is  then  thrown  into  the  fea)  and  whitewalhing  them  anew  with  lime  and  fea- 
•water,  by  wafhing  the  floors,  windows,  doors,  &c.  firft  with  fea- water,  and 
then  with  vinrgar,  taking  great  care  to  leave  nothing  that  is  infected.  The 
bodies  ef  the  dead  are  buried  in  a  place  fet  apart  for  that  purpofe  ;  and  their 
beds  and  bedding  are  burned.  As  to  other  things  not  ufed  during  the  ill- 
nefs,  the  linen  is  wafhed  with  foap  and  ley  ;  the  woollen  clothes  are  put  into 
lea-water  for  two  days,  and  then  ventilated  for  twenty  days.  Thofe  which 
would  befpoiled  by  water  are  hung  on  aline  in  the  air  for  40  days,  and  fumi- 
gated from  time  to  time  according  to  their  quality. — Morandi .•  A  fire  is  to 
be  kept  conftantly  in  the  fick  chamber  in  all  leafons.  All  faeces,  &c.  are  to 
be  immediately  removed.  Clean  fheets  and  (hirts  daily.  The  healthy  muft 
avoid  commerce  with  the  infected  ;  muft  purge  gently  now  and  then,  fmoke 
tobacco,  drink  pure  wine  medicated  with  wormwood,  gentian,  zedoary,  &c. 

and  avoid  fear  and  other  paflions,  and  excels  of  all  kinds. Jeiv  phyfician  : 

No  means  ef  prevention  are  ufed  in  the  Turkiih  dominions. Fra.  Luigi ; 

Fire,  water  and  air  are  ufed  for  (topping  the  contagion,  and  purifying  places. — 
Verdoni  ;  The  beft  preservatives  are  fuppofed  to  be  fpririkling  the  room  with 
vinegar  and  perfumes,  ventilation  and  fumigation.  The  Greeks  in  Smyrna  dur- 
ing lent,  when  they  eat  only  vegetables,  are  feldem  attacked  ;  while  among 
thole  who  eat  flefo  the  contagion  makes  great  havock.  Hence  the  beft  means 
of  prevention  are  to  eat  moderately,  and  not  at  all  of  animal  food  ;  to  drink: 
xvater  and  vinegar  ;  to  fprinklethe  chamber  with  the  latter;  and  ufe  frequent 
ventilation  ;  to  change  the  clothes,  efpecially  the  linen,  daily  ;  hanging  in  the 
air  luch  as  has  been  ufed,  for  15  or  *o  days.  For  fupprefling  the  infection 
every  thing  is  to  be  waihed  that  can  undergo  the  operation,  and  the  walls  of 
the  chamber  to  be  whitened  with  lime,  but  after  the  241*1  of  June  no  further 
care  is  taken.  , 


FINIS. 


ERRATA. 

PACE.       LINE. 

20.        23.  For  «deftroy!ng  three  or  four  thoufand,*  Tead  'Ueftroying  fix- 
teen  hundred  out  of  three  or  four  thoufand.' 
39.         13.  from  bottom,  for  «  Zibira,'  read  •  Zebire.' 
86.         10-  for  •  obfcuredt'  read  «  obfcure.' 
153.         20.  for  «acid  other,'  read  •  acid  in  the  other.' 

302.  15.  from  bottom,  after  «the  inhabitants,'  add,  «  Farther  eaft  it  does 

not  go.' 
280.  7.  from  bottom,  for  '  flattering,'  read  fluttering.' 

303.  8.  from  bottom  (in  a  few  copies)  for  'gout,  fever,'  read '  gaol- fever.' 
309.         10.  for  •  lately  to,'  read  «fafety  of.' 

460.  2.  from  bottom,  for  «  fluid,'  read  «  fluids.* 

480.  12.  from  bottom,  for  '  Black  affizes,'  read  <  Black  Hole.' 

486.  5    for  •  Hansforth,'  read  «  Hansford  ;'   alfo  in  pages  489  &  510, 

5<as.  i.  for  «  parcity,'  read  «  paucity.' 

13.  i,  bottom,  for  «vol-  x,'  read  «  vol.  iii.1 


